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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25642756">Obstinate Headstrong Girl</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/KairiGokuJr/pseuds/KairiGokuJr'>KairiGokuJr</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Ball, 幽☆遊☆白書 | YuYu Hakusho: Ghost Files</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>AU, DBZ canon only, F/M, Gen, Lots of smooching when possible, big fan of smooching, no Super or GT</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 11:48:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>21,786</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25642756</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/KairiGokuJr/pseuds/KairiGokuJr</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kairi was not as strong as her brothers and she didn't start training to fight until she was eight-years-old. But the skill set of Goku's only daughter made her a perfect fit to be Spirit Detective. Much to the chagrin of demons (and friends, family, teachers, and Koenma), Kairi brings a distinct lack of patience and tendency to run off at the mouth to every confrontational situation. When her best friend Yusuke is hit and killed by a car and revived as her partner, Kairi learns secrets about her family, Spirit World, and some of her own secrets are brought to light. "I've spent so much time trying to close the gap between me and my brothers that I've never bothered to see if I was good at anything else."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hiei (YuYu Hakusho)/Original Female Character(s), Trunks Briefs/Original Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Everything is Fine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a rewrite of a fic that I started when I was 12-years-old over on good ol' fanfic.net. I'm posting this there as well and leaving the original series up so that I cannot hide from the sins of my past.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>My hands were red. Sticky, wet, and red.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Where had the blood come from? Whose blood was this?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I looked up into Botan's horrified face.</em>
</p><p>And then I was lying in bed. Just another nightmare. Another memory.</p><p>I buried my face into my pillow as there was banging on my door.</p><p>"Yo, we're gonna be late."</p><p>It was Goten, my younger brother.</p><p>"I'm not going," I grumbled.</p><p>"It won't kill you to go to school five days in a row," Goten said.</p><p>"It might," I whispered to myself.</p><p>"Mom on the other hand might kill you," he continued.</p><p>I sighed. "Gimme five."</p><p>I sat up and sighed. At least school was a distraction from work. A full week might've been what I'd needed after what I'd endured two weeks before. I didn't want to think about it anymore. If I spent all day screwing around I wouldn't do anything but think about it.</p><p>I dressed and grabbed my school bag, last night's homework sitting undone inside of it and walked downstairs.</p><p>My dad was sitting at the table, still eating. Goten was chugging down a glass of orange juice. My father, Goku and my brother looked exactly the same. Goten was still only 13-years-old and would probably grow another foot before the year was out, but their faces were the same, they had the same spiky and unruly hair.</p><p>My older brother, Gohan, and I favored our mother, Chichi. I was shorter and leaner and had straight hair that came just past my shoulders. I had bangs which my mom hated, but I think she hated them because it made me look less like her. Which was the whole point of them. My dad said that it would be harder fight because my bangs would be in my eyes all of the time. I was determined to prove that I could throw a punch without being worried about my bangs.</p><p>My mom, my teachers, and Koenma all said that I  was "obstinate." And maybe they were all right, but that was part of my charm.</p><p>"Breakfast?" Dad asked.</p><p>I shook my head. "Not hungry."</p><p>My mom put her hand to my forehead.</p><p>"Not sick," Mom said.</p><p>"No. Just not hungry," I said.</p><p>"Weird to see you not hungry," Dad said. "Ever since you got back from that assignment."</p><p>"I told you, I think she needs to take a break from all this Spirit Detective business. She's just a kid after all," Mom said.</p><p>"I'm fine, Mom. Just because I'm not hungry doesn't mean I can't be Spirit Detective," I said. "Gohan has been through way worse."</p><p>That was always my excuse. Gohan had been through and dealt with much harder stuff than being Spirit Detective entailed. But I wasn't sure how true that was anymore.</p><p>"Yes, and your brother's mental health is absolutely stunning," Mom said. She kissed the top of my head. "Go to school. And Kairi if I get one call about you skipping--."</p><p>"I know, I know. I'll go," I said. "Relax."</p><p>"You do not make it easy to relax," Dad said. "You get into a lot of trouble."</p><p>"That's kind of the pot calling the kettle black there, Dad," Goten said.</p><p>Dad paused and looked around the kitchen. "Wait. Are you teasing me? I know cookware can't talk."</p><p>I nodded. "And on that note, let's roll."</p><p>My father had been raised in the woods. Mostly by himself until he was 10-years-old. He wasn't very bright as a result and a lot of social things went over his head. But what could you do when you were from an alien planet and crash landed on Earth as an infant and then were dropped on your head down a giant ravine before your brain was fully developed?</p><p>My dad was from an alien planet (which no longer existed) called Vegeta, and from a race of mostly extinct warriors called Saiyans. The Saiyans were hired muscle for a guy called Frieza. The Saiyans went around to different planets, clearing of them of all lifeforms, and then handed the planets over to the highest bidder.</p><p>Fucking horrific right? I didn't tell people that story.</p><p>My dad had been sent to Earth as a child and programmed to destroy all life on Earth, but he was found by his adoptive grandfather (for whom my older brother Gohan was named) and, after my dad fell down that ravine as a child all of his programming (and probably a little extra) got wiped. His grandpa taught him martial arts, and now my dad was basically the strongest being in existence.</p><p>I didn't tell people that story either. Sometimes people knew him as that guy that competed in the World Martial Arts Tournament a bunch of times (and was truly a sight to behold). Some people knew him because he also trained under Master Roshi who was also a well known Martial Artists. Others knew him because my older brother Gohan was married to Videl, the daughter of the current "strongest man alive," Mr. Satan.</p><p>But  mostly, he was just my dad. Nothing had tried to annihilate humanity in almost a decade, my dad's days of throwing caution to the wind to fight big bad aliens were behind him. There were plenty more Earthly threats that needed to be dealt with anyway.</p><p>And that's why there was the Spirit Detective.</p><p>I'd kind of stumbled into it, honestly.</p><p>My dad had a habit of, well, dying. So he'd trained in Other World with some pretty top tier fighters, one of them being Supreme Kai. From there it was all the trickledown effect.</p><p>While the Kais ran business in Other World, there were the gatekeepers of Other World. First you had to go through Spirit World, and what an entity the Spirit World was. Aside from being the gatekeepers who determined where souls went when they died, they also were the gatekeepers between the Living World and Demon World.</p><p>What lives in Demon World you ask? Why demons of course. Demons also lived in and were governed by Spirit World, but not many of them. A lot of demons slunk over from Demon World or Spirit World and made trouble for humans here in the Living World.</p><p>And that's where Spirit Detective came in. I helped Spirit World keep demons from running around and causing trouble for humans.</p><p>I was 11-years-old and there'd been all kinds of rumors about people going missing near a river in the city late in the evenings. Being the curious and always capable of stumbling into trouble, I went to check out this river late in the evening and, lo, stumbled upon a water apparition. She tried to take me, drown me, and then eat me, but instead I kicked her ass because I was strong like my dad and could easily kick most people's asses.</p><p>So Koenma, Prince of the Spirit World, asked if I, the daughter of the greatest protector the world has ever known, might like to handle demons on a full time basis. My mom said no. My dad said I could do whatever I wanted to do.</p><p>My dad spent his whole life protecting people. Gohan and Goten had all had the opportunity to show their worth. Why couldn't I do it too?</p><p>So here I was, three years later, Spirit Detective. And part of me was wondering if my mom was right. What if I was just a kid and that was too much? But if I didn't do the dirty work, who else would?</p><p>Goten and I walked out of the house.</p><p>"You sure you're good?" Goten asked. "You have been pretty mopey since that last assignment. And you've got circles around your eyes. You should try some concealer."</p><p>"I am fine, thank you," I said. "I'm not resorting to wearing makeup just because I'm tired."</p><p>I was tired because I was still having nightmares every night about things I couldn't even remember happening. But from Botan's, my assistant, report, they were things that had most certainly happened. Things I'd done without a doubt.</p><p>I adjusted my bag on my shoulder and looked down at my hands. For a minute I thought I could see them, still stained with blood. I blinked and it was gone.</p><p>I definitely needed the distraction of school today.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>To say that I went to school far from home would be an understatement of colossal proportions. Were it not for our abilities to fly at ridiculously fast speeds (unaided by vehicles at that), it wouldn't be possible. Gohan had gone to school at Orange Star High when mom finally stopped homeschooling him when I was eight. Goten and I took a different path for our education.</p><p>We went to school in West City. It was very far from home. But, my dad's best friend, Bulma, lived in West City and she had a son my age, Trunks. His father, Vegeta was also a Saiyan. The prince of all Saiyans as Vegeta's father (also named Vegeta) was king of their home planet (also named Vegeta). It was insisted that we go to school together. Grow up together. Be friends. Be a little more socialized than Gohan was.</p><p>I strongly suspected ulterior motives on the part of Bulma and my mother, but any time I made this accusation I was met with vehement denial.</p><p>Goten and Trunks were best friends. They were thick as thieves. The very definition of ride or die best friends.</p><p>On the other hand, Trunks and I were also very good friends, but I tended to keep at arm's length considering the ulterior motives I suspected our parents had.</p><p>And because I kind of thought there might be something to their ulterior motives. And recently Trunks had become very not shy about caring whether or not our parents had ulterior motives.</p><p>Trunks was ridiculously good-looking and I kind of hated him for it.</p><p>He was leaning against my locker, his phone in hand when I arrived. I groaned.</p><p>"You know, I bet if you guys went on one date you might not be so grumpy all of the time," Goten said. He was also hip to our parents ulterior motives.</p><p>"Isn't your locker elsewhere?" I asked.</p><p>Goten stuck his tongue out at me, before throwing a hand up. "Yo!"<br/>
Trunks looked up from his phone and waved back. Goten ran off to his own locker as I approached Trunks.</p><p>"Why are you blocking my locker?" I asked.</p><p>Trunks reached into his pocket and pulled out a granola bar. "Your mom said you didn't eat."</p><p>I rolled my eyes. "I'm fine. I told her I was fine."</p><p>"Yeah, yeah, eat the granola bar," Trunks said, attempting to shove it into my hands. "You look like crap."</p><p>"Oh, thank you," I said, pulling my locker open.</p><p>"I just mean you look tired lately. Like you're not sleeping well," I switched out my shoes quickly and slammed it shut. "Or eating well." He held out the granola bar again and I took it, if only so he would stop shoving it in my face. "You don't seem to be doing great after that human trafficking thing."</p><p>My last assignment as Spirit Detective had been to shut down a bath house that was a front for a demon run human trafficking ring. I was currently doing everything in my power to repress the whole assignment.</p><p>"Well, it sucked," I said. He opened his mouth to speak. "And no. I still don't want to talk about it." He sighed. "Have you seen Yusuke at all today?"</p><p>Trunks sighed again. "That guy really bugs me."</p><p>"Yeah, well he doesn't hassle me about how much I'm eating or sleeping or if I'm going to class," I said.</p><p>"It's a miracle he's even here today," Trunks said.</p><p>Yusuke Urameshi was as big of a delinquent as they came. He cut school, picked fights (and usually finished them too), slept through class if he even bothered to show up. He was kind of an asshat, and kind of a perv, but he was also my best friend. In kindergarten we'd gone swimming at a rec center for a field trip and when a girl taunted me about being afraid to get in the water and then pushing me in, Yusuke had been the one to pull me out of the pool and giving the girl a piece of his mind. We'd been bros ever since.</p><p>"Besides, he doesn't know what you get up to when you're cutting school," Trunks said. "Then even he might be concerned."</p><p>"Who knows," I said. I held up the granola bar. "I will eat this if you get off my case about it."</p><p>"About which thing?" Trunks asked.</p><p>"All of them," I said. I stepped around him and headed down the hall. I'd almost made it to the stairs, when an arm grabbed me.</p><p>"No, no, no, you are cutting."</p><p>I groaned. Unfortunately, the only other person I was remotely close to in this school was Keiko Yukimura. She was at the top of our class, student body president, and all around good person. She and Yusuke had been friends even before we started school. Yusuke came with Keiko. And I was much better at being forced to behave than he was.</p><p>"I wasn't cutting," I said.</p><p>"Uh-huh," Keiko said.</p><p>"I was going to look for Yusuke," I said.</p><p>"Right. And when you found him, were you going to bring him to class?" she asked.</p><p>"Absolutely," I said. Keiko grabbed my ear and yanked it hard. "Ow! You are so mean."</p><p>"You know, you actually have half a brain whereas Yusuke doesn't," Keiko said pulling me into class. "If you ever bothered to apply yourself--."</p><p>"Oh, my god. Please don't talk to me about applying myself, Mother," I said as she forced me down into my desk.</p><p>"Come on, Kairi. You could at least try," Keiko said. "You've been here all week and you've been a total space cadet. If you didn't care, you wouldn't show up."</p><p>"I come to school out of fear that my mother will instead homeschool me," I said. A very real threat that I encountered a few times a year when my truancy got out of hand.</p><p>"So you're just going to sit here and not try? What are you going to do with your life?" Keiko asked.</p><p>I shrugged. "I'm 14. I've got time to figure it out, right?"</p><p>"Yeah, but no one hires idiots who drop out of middle school," she said.</p><p>
  <em>"Yusuke Urameshi, please report to Mr. Takenaka's office immediately."</em>
</p><p>"Well, I'm here, aren't? Eighty percent of life is just showing up, isn't it?" I asked.</p><p>Keiko gently, pityingly, smacked my forehead. "The other twenty percent is probably applying yourself though."</p><p>"I apply myself to other things," I said.</p><p>"Like what?" Keiko asked.</p><p><em>Fighting demons</em>, I thought to myself.</p><p>"Doing good deeds," I said. A half-truth.</p><p>Keiko scoffed. "Didn't you get suspended three weeks ago for punching someone?"</p><p>"It was a good deed. He was an asshole and deserved a punch in the face," I said.</p><p>Keiko sighed as the bells chimed over the PA signaling the start of morning announcements.</p><p>"I just worry about you," she said.</p><p>She walked to her desk at the front of the classroom.</p><p>It felt like all anyone ever did was worry over me. I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I was having a few stressful weeks, but I'd manage. The world wasn't ending after all. Eventually I'd get over all the business at the bathhouse. I just needed to be left alone in the meantime. Spirit World wouldn't have anything for me to do for weeks.</p><p>I listened to the drone of morning announcements and when they ended, everyone erupted into chatter. I looked over at the empty desk beside me. Yusuke's desk. Not that he was ever in it.</p><p>
  <em>"Yusuke Urameshi, report to Mr. Takenaka's office immediately."</em>
</p><p>Mr. Takenaka wasn't messing around today, apparently. Still, Yusuke was here. And I knew where I'd find him. I rose from my seat and walked out of the classroom. I headed all the way upstairs to the roof.</p><p>There he was, reclining back against a wall, a cigarette tucked between his teeth, wearing a green jumpsuit instead of the standard navy blue one that was required of the boys.</p><p>"Those things'll kill you, you know," I said.</p><p>Yusuke looked over to me. "I'm here for a good time, not a long time."</p><p>"Keiko will kick your ass if she sees you with that," I said.</p><p>"Keiko's going to kick my ass anyway," he said, but he still stubbed the cigarette out on the concrete beside him before pocketing it. "Heard you've been a model student all week."</p><p>"Yeah, sleeping <em>in </em>class instead of at the park for once," I said. I hadn't slept in class at all, even though I was tired. I didn't let myself doze. I was afraid of what I might see.</p><p>"I didn't have shit else to do today," Yusuke said.</p><p>"I'm sure Kuwabara's looking for you somewhere," I said. "He always needs his ass kicked."</p><p>Yusuke chuckled. "True, but it gets a little boring after a while, you know." I nodded in agreement. Yusuke gave me a once over. "What's eating you?"</p><p>"What do you mean?" I asked.</p><p>"You look like my mom after she goes on a weeklong bender," Yusuke said. Atsuko Urameshi was a probable prostitute and definite alcoholic. She was funny though. "Everything good?"</p><p>Yusuke didn't know anything about my life as Spirit Detective. Didn't know about my dad being a Saiyan. Didn't know about Trunks or Spirit World or Frieza or anything. He was pure. He was human. He was my safe space. I didn't have to worry about all of the craziness inherent in my own existence when we hung out.</p><p>But there were times I desperately wanted to tell him what was going on in my life. He was the only person I thought about talking to about the bathhouse. But I couldn't tell him anything.</p><p>I shrugged. "You ever think it's better to just forget that some things happen than to talk about them?"</p><p>"I think the cool kids call that trauma," Yusuke said. I rolled my eyes. "You being serious?" I nodded. "You're never serious."</p><p>"I know," I said. "That's why I wonder if I should just push it down and forget about it."</p><p>"Well, I don't think you ever really forget," Yusuke said. "But if it's fucking bothering you and you don't want to deal with it, that sounds like a problem for Future Kairi. Today Kairi should probably take a nap. You look like shit."</p><p>"Yeah," I said. "I probably look like I got hit by a car or something," I said. I sat my bag down and laid down on the ground, looking up at the sky, Yusuke sitting silently beside me. "I kind of wish it could always be this peaceful."</p><p>
  <em>Yusuke Urameshi, I know you're at school today. Please report to my office!"</em>
</p><p>"And then there's this asshole," Yusuke said. "Wonder what he wants?"</p><p>"Probably to tell you that you're throwing your life away," I said. "I already got the lecture this week. From him and Keiko and Trunks."</p><p>"I would <em>love</em> for your boyfriend to tell me to get my life together," Yusuke said.</p><p>"He's not my boyfriend," I said, rolling my eyes.</p><p>"You say that now," Yusuke said, "but we shall see."</p><p>"Yeah, and we'll see about you and Keiko," I retorted.</p><p>Yusuke scoffed. "Please. I'm definitely gonna marry that girl. Your teasing can't hurt me."</p><p>"I'm going to go to sleep now," I said.</p><p>"Trunks and Kairi, sitting in a tree," Yusuke teased. I hit him in his arm. "Ow! You know you and Keiko hit the hardest?"</p><p>"Yes," I said. "Because you annoy us the most."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Nothing is Okay</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I woke up to the sound of Keiko's voice, scolding Yusuke. I opened my eyes, holding my hand over my eyes to block out the sun. Trunks was standing with her.</p><p>"Oh, great," I grumbled, sitting up.</p><p>"You're both completely useless," Trunks said.</p><p>"Hey, only she's allowed to yell at me," Yusuke said.</p><p>"Fine by me," Trunks said, grabbing me and yanking me up to my feet. He grabbed my bag from the ground and dragged me from the roof as Keiko laid into Yusuke. "You're not even going to try? Not even try? Even pretend to go to class?"</p><p>"I went to homeroom," I said. "I didn't do the homework for history anyway."</p><p>"Seriously," he said. He stopped pulling me and stopped on the stairs. "You are one of my favorite people, but you are an idiot."</p><p>"Idiot is a strong word," I said.</p><p>"But an accurate one," he said. "All you have to do is show up and pay attention. Care a little. Pay a little bit of attention. Your life can't be all about being Spirit Detective."</p><p>I groaned. "You know my dad never went to school and people love him. He was all about saving people."</p><p>"We love Goku, but he is not exactly the poster child for intelligence," Trunks said.</p><p>"Well, we can't all be geniuses like you, can we?" I asked.</p><p>"I'm hardly a genius," he said.</p><p>"Actually a genius," I said. "Didn't you tell your mom your refused to skip a grade because you wouldn't properly socialized when we were like, 10? I think you might be a genius."</p><p>"Flattery will not get you out of me making you go to class," Trunks said. "You should go or I'm going to have to do something drastic."</p><p>I raised an eyebrow. "Drastic? What are you gonna do? Pick me up and carry into class?" Without another word, he grabbed me by the waist and hoisted me up onto his shoulder. I kicked and screamed as he walked downstairs to my classroom, slid my chair out with his foot and then plopped me down in my seat.</p><p>"Not a bad idea," Trunks said.</p><p>"I'm going to murder you," I said, my face red with humiliation.</p><p>"I know," he said. "But do it after school." Trunks turned the other kids in my class. "Make sure she stays put guys." He turned back to face me. "Or I'll be back."</p><p>I flipped him off, and he walked out of the classroom. My classmates stared and giggled and whispered under their breaths.</p><p>I stood up from my desk.</p><p>"The next person I catch so much as giggling is earning a free pass to the nurse's office," I said. A hush fell over the room. I nodded in approval and returned to my seat as Keiko walked into the classroom. Yusuke wasn't with her, so I assumed he'd managed to escape. Lucky him.</p><p>I sat through an entire morning of classes. I received a text from Yusuke just before lunch that he'd won his 157<sup>th</sup> consecutive fight against another classmate, Kazuma Kuwabara. That was the highlight of my morning.</p><p>After lunch I considered leaving, Trunks's threat be damned. But then Mr. Takenaka walked into class.</p><p>"Keiko Yukimura, Kairi Son. Grab your things and come with me, please," he said.</p><p>Keiko looked back to me, and I shrugged. I couldn't imagine what he wanted us both for. Emergency student mentorship effective immediately?</p><p>I grabbed my things and followed Keiko and Mr. Takenaka out into the hallway.</p><p>"Sir? What's going on?" Keiko asked.</p><p>"I have some unfortunate news to tell you. I thought it'd be best if you spent the rest of your day at home," he said.</p><p>"Unfortunate news? Big Man, you're making it sound like somebody died," I said.</p><p>Mr. Takenaka turned to face us. He'd paled ever so slightly. Shit. Someone <em>had</em> died? I looked over to Keiko, trying to puzzle out how someone dying would warrant pulling the two of us out of class. We ran in wildly different circles. Aside from Goten and Trunks, the only friend we had in common was Yusuke.</p><p>Yusuke.</p><p>Keiko seemed to have figured it out before me. Her eyes were already swimming with tears. I shook my head.</p><p>"But, no. I just saw him this morning," I said. "We were on the roof together. He was just here."</p><p>"Apparently he saw a little boy run out into traffic and pushed him out of the way before he could get hit by a car. Yusuke saved his life… At the expense of his own," Mr. Takenaka said.</p><p>I still shaking my head. "There's gotta be a mistake. I mean, Yusuke can't be--."</p><p>I couldn't even get the words out. Yusuke couldn't be dead. How was I going to tell him that Trunks picked me up and carried me over his shoulder to class? How was I going to celebrate him kicking Kuwabara's ass over pizza and soda tonight as was tradition? How was I supposed to tell him anything?</p><p>Keiko was sobbing into her hands now. I put my arms around her. I wanted to tell her to stop crying, because Yusuke wasn't dead. He couldn't be dead.</p><p>"His mother called to let us know. She asked that we inform you," Mr. Takenaka said. "You know, I think you two might've been the only friends he had."</p><p>The only friends he had. <em>Had</em> because he wasn't alive anymore to <em>have</em> friends anymore. My stomach turned into a knot. My throat constricted. My legs felt like they were made of jelly. I held Keiko a little tighter.</p><p>"I'll walk you home," I said.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Keiko's parents ran a small restaurant that was attached to their house. I walked her to the back door so she could go upstairs without being gawked at by customers. Her mother met her at the backdoor. Keiko ran into her mother's arms, sobbing.</p><p>"Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry," her mother said, patting her daughter's head. "Kairi, do you want to stay here for a while?"</p><p>I shook my head. Goten had texted me while I walked and said that mom wanted me to go wait at Trunks's house or my aunt's house until Goten got out of school. I didn't want to talk to anyone, so my aunt's house was the obvious choice. My cousin, Shuichi, was in school still. My aunt was sick in the hospital almost full time these days. Her house would be empty.</p><p>I walked away from the house, not bothering to say goodbye. I just walked to my aunt's house. She was clear on the other side of town so it was a long walk. When I got to the front door of her house, I reached into my bag and pulled out my keys and unlocked the door. I walked inside, stepped out of my shoes, and walked into the living room, plopping down on the couch.</p><p>I laid down, burying my face in a throw pillow.</p><p>Yusuke was dead.</p><p>What was the last thing he'd said to me? That Keiko and I hit him the hardest. What else had we talked about that morning?</p><p>
  <em>"But if it's fucking bothering you and you don't want to deal with it, that sounds like a problem for Future Kairi. Today Kairi should probably take a nap."</em>
</p><p>Good advice, Yusuke.</p><p>I fell asleep and instead of playing back my horrible assignment I dreamed about Yusuke and a little boy, and a car.</p><p>I felt like I'd been sleeping for ages when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see my cousin kneeling in front of me. He had long red hair and gentle green eyes. I always felt like when he stared at me he was peering directly into my mind, trying to read my thoughts.</p><p>"Sorry to wake you," he said.</p><p>"What time is it?" I asked.</p><p>"Nearly six. I've let you sleep awhile," Shuichi said. "I told Goten I would send you on your when you woke."</p><p>I sat up. "How's your mom?"</p><p>"My mother is fine," Shuichi said. "Goten said something happened to your friend." I nodded. "Do you want to talk about it.?"</p><p>I shook my head. I couldn't even say it out loud. How was I supposed to speak it into existence? Shuichi placed a hand on my shoulder.</p><p>"I'll make you some tea," he said.</p><p>"I don't need any tea," I said. "What the fuck is tea supposed to do?"</p><p>"I'm just trying to help," Shuichi said.</p><p>"You can't help me. How the fuck is anyone supposed to help me right now? Can you make him not dead?" I asked. Tears stung my eyes, and I blinked them away.</p><p>Shuichi sat down next to me. "I'm very sorry about what's happened to you. I'm sure your friend will be terribly missed."</p><p>I scoffed. "No, he won't be. Yusuke was an asshole. A punk. A troublemaker. Our science teacher called him a stain on the fabric of society. Which, like, why would you ever try to be nice to someone who talked about you that way?"</p><p>"He was your friend a long time wasn't he? The boy who always came to visit for your birthday?" Shuichi asked.</p><p>"Since kindergarten," I said. "In second grade, he was the only person who was excited that I was competing in the World Martial Arts tournament. To this day he still believes I only lost to Trunks on a technicality and that I could kick his ass if I wanted to… People didn't like Yusuke because he didn't fit in and I just felt like…"</p><p>"What?" Shuichi asked.</p><p>"I always felt like he just hadn't found his thing yet. That one day he would do big things, but on his own terms," I said.</p><p>Shuichi gave me a gentle pat on the back. "It's not as if you can predict the future, Kairi."</p><p>I nodded in agreement. But…</p><p>It wasn't just that I was good at beating demons up that got me my job as Spirit Detective. I came equipped with some pretty baller skills that come in handy when you send someone off to fight demons. I could move objects with my mind, read people's thoughts, and occasionally, I could predict the future. The trouble was, there was no rhyme or reason to when or what I predicted. It seemed random. And I didn't read people's mind if I could help it. My powers had manifested themselves in the form of a loud cacophony of voices, so I'd shut them all out.</p><p>Even if I knew how to control my psychic abilities with any degree of skill, who would think to predict when their best friend would die? Who would want to see that?</p><p>My phone buzzed in my bag, and I fished it out.</p><p>
  <strong>Keiko<br/></strong>
  <em>Atsuko is having his wake at 7pm.</em>
</p><p>A knot formed in my chest again. I couldn't imagine seeing his mom right now. She was probably drunk out of her mind, more so than usual.</p><p>
  <strong>Kairi<br/></strong>
  <em>Ok</em>
</p><p>I tossed the phone back into my bag and brought my hands up to my face.</p><p>"What is his mom supposed to do?" I asked. "She'll drink herself to death over this."</p><p>"I'm sure--."</p><p>"She's an alcoholic, Shuichi. She just got off a bender yesterday and was finally home and then her son jumps in front of a car to save a little boy and now his life is gone? Who wouldn't drink themselves stupid over it?"</p><p>Shuichi placed a hand on my back again.</p><p>"You're right. I'm sorry," he said.</p><p>"He saved some kid's life. The last thing he ever did was give up his life for someone else and I hate that no one will probably acknowledge that," I said. "I know and Keiko knows that Yusuke would do it in a heartbeat for anyone, but no one else even cared… He saved me from drowning in a pool in kindergarten. He never even talked to me before that. Yusuke just…"</p><p>I stood up and picked up my bag.</p><p>"Where are you going?" Shuichi asked.</p><p>"I'm just going to walk. I can't sit anymore," I said. I walked over to the door.</p><p>"What were you going to say about your friend, Yusuke?" Shuichi asked.</p><p>"I think deep down, Yusuke only ever wanted to help people. Maybe that's why we were friends," I said. Shuichi knew nothing of my life as Spirit Detective or of Demon World or Spirit World, but he knew my dad, knew I idolized him, knew my dad was a hero whenever the opportunity presented itself. "Yusuke was good, even if no one else ever saw it. Maybe I saw it."<br/><br/></p><hr/><p> </p><p>Yusuke pissed off a lot of people. I know, because I was frequently his quiet, steadfast female companion. I'd endured many a "Is that your girlfriend, Urameshi?" before punching a guy's teeth out. Yusuke was my brother. My best friend. Just as I would kick anyone's ass for going after Goten or Gohan, I would do it for Yusuke. Trunks loathed Yusuke, but Goten, he respected Yusuke. He didn't particularly care for Yusuke, delinquent that he was, but he saw the diamond in the rough that I saw.</p><p>Anyway, I got off Shuichi's couch and started my way through the city. Anyone who had beef with Yusuke Urameshi could lay all their beef on me.</p><p>I didn't care that a bunch of human punks saw me as some hanger-on to Yusuke. If the time came, I could kick their asses. And the time was now here for them to put up or shut up. There would be no one walking around who would bad mouth Yusuke on the streets if I had anything to say about it.</p><p>"I bet Urameshi was tryin' to steal that kid's lunch money," one guy said.</p><p>I punched him in the mouth. No more teeth for that guy.</p><p>And so I went through the city. People who knew Yusuke knew me. Saw me alone and took advantage. Little did they know what Yusuke's quiet companion could do to them.</p><p>Definitely, my dad would not approve of me going around beating people up, but I felt like I had a responsibility to Yusuke.</p><p>By the time his wake rolled around, I was on the other side of town so I walked to his house, slowly, carefully, not knowing what I would see there. I expected it to be deserted, everyone but Keiko and Atsuko there crying for him, but it was packed. Everyone had come to gawk at how Yusuke Urameshi died.</p><p>As I got closer, I heard shouting coming from inside.</p><p>"You're just scared!" the voice shouted. "You were scared to fight me again, so you decided to go ahead and die!" They were screaming, sobbing, and I realized I recognized that voice. A group of boys pulled Kuwabara from the room, apologizing as they went, Kuwabara sobbing and wailing as he was dragged away.</p><p>My chest ached again. Yusuke would've loved that. Part of Kuwabara knew that he couldn't beat Yusuke. But he kept trying. Kuwabara respected the shit out of Yusuke. I ran after him.</p><p>"Kuwabara!" I called out.</p><p>His friends stopped when they saw me. Kuwabara stood on his own two feet, wiping tears from his eyes, too proud to show weakness.</p><p>"What do you want?" Kuwabara asked. "If you think you can try to come at me for making a scene, I--."</p><p>"Thank you," I said.</p><p>The boys all stared at me.</p><p>"Wha?" Kuwabara asked.</p><p>"Yusuke liked fighting you. Liked your stick-to-itiveness, I guess," I said. "We had this tradition of having a pizza whenever he kicked your ass. It started after like the 30th time, but he'd always say 'that Kuwabara's something else.' And… Maybe you weren't really friends but… He respected you, for sure. No one else has been brave enough to go at him the way you do."</p><p>There were tears in my eyes. I was really about to cry in front of Kazuma Kuwabara of all people.</p><p>"Were you, like, Urameshi's girlfriend?" Kuwabara asked.</p><p>Without the slightest bit of hesitation, I reached out and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground.</p><p>"A girl and a guy be friends without it being weird," I shouted at him lying on the ground. "You're an idiot Kuwabara, and I wasn't Yusuke's girlfriend, but he was my best friend. So you spread the word to anyone you see that if I hear them talking shit about Yusuke Urameshi, they've got a date with my fist."</p><p>I kneeled down to Kuwabara, who was sitting up on the sidewalk by now.</p><p>"You seem like a good guy," I said, smacking his cheek. "Yusuke could handle himself, but he knew I could also handle myself. I mean, I try to make a point not to get into fights with people unless I had to or if I thought it'd be interesting… Okay, and sometimes because I'm easily irritated, but then it's never really a fight. I'm a one hit K.O. kind of girl."</p><p>"Yeah, I can tell," Kuwabara said.</p><p>"Guess you're not as dumb as you look," I said.</p><p>I heard sobbing from behind me. I turned and watched Keiko walking with her friends away from the house.</p><p>"I have to go, but do yourself a favor," I said standing up. "Try to toughen up. One hundred and fifty-seven is a lot of time to get your ass kicked."</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><hr/><p> </p><p>My parents didn't bother me at all on Saturday. I got up and forced down breakfast, even though I had absolutely no appetite, and then went back to bed. I sat and watched dumb videos on the internet and let myself be depressed. Between the bath house and Yusuke, I was not feeling great.</p><p>"Hello, Kairi," a familiar small voice at my window said.</p><p>The Prince of the Spirit World was toddler sized and even still had a pacifier clenched between his teeth. The letters "Jr" were stamped across his forehead, and he wore an enormous pink and blue hat that matched his outfit.</p><p>"I'm not in the mood for an assignment, Koenma," I said.</p><p>"I'm not here for an assignment. Just checking in," he said. "How are you doing?"</p><p>"Not great," I said. "My friend--."</p><p>"Yusuke Urameshi, age 14. Hit by a car while saving a little boy," Koenma said.</p><p>I scoffed. "Of course you know. You know all the dead people after all."</p><p>"Yes, but Yusuke's case was particularly interesting. We didn't anticipate him jumping in front of that car to save that little boy," Koenma said.</p><p>"So even in Spirit World you assumed he was a selfish asshole?" I asked.</p><p>"To be frank about it, yes," Koenma said. I rolled my eyes. "But this has given us a unique opportunity."</p><p>"That being?" I asked.</p><p>"… How would you like to have a partner, Kairi?" he asked.</p><p>I let the question hang in the air for a moment.</p><p>"I'm not following," I said.</p><p>"We are going to revive Yusuke," Koenma said. "We do this rarely, but in Yusuke's case, he meets all the criteria we look for in these instances. He'll have to work for it; we'll be using a Spirit Beast to guide his soul back into his body. We gave him the egg of his very own Spirit Beast. All the positive energy he puts into while he's still a spirit will help the egg grow, and when the beast hatches, it will guide him into his body."</p><p>"Yusuke is not really a positive energy kind of person," I said.</p><p>"Yes, well, he'll have to get over that. If he feeds the beast with negative energy, it will hatch and devour his soul entirely," Koenma said.</p><p>"Yikes," I said.</p><p>"Yikes indeed," Koenma said. "But if Yusuke isn't eaten and survives his ordeal, he'll be revived. Which brings me back to my question—a partner."</p><p>"You want Yusuke to be my partner?" I asked.</p><p>Koenma nodded. "Yusuke has unique Spirit Energy, and his confrontation with death will put him even more in touch with it. He'll be able to do some pretty extraordinary things when he gets back. He'll need some guidance, but I'm sure as his friend he'll listen to you."</p><p>"Maybe he will. He doesn't really like being told what to do," I said.</p><p>"A fact I have discovered," Koenma said. "But for now, he's Botan's problem."</p><p>I sighed. "This is a lot."</p><p>"Yes, but hopefully this news gives you some peace," Koenma said. I nodded. "Don't worry over Yusuke's ordeal. In the meantime, there's someone I'd like you to go see."</p><p>"I thought you said you didn't have an assignment for me," I said.</p><p>"It's not an assignment. Think of it as professional development," Koenma said. "I've sent an address to your phone. You're going to visit a woman named Genkai. She's a very powerful psychic and a bit of a boogeyman to a lot of demons, so you have loads in common already. But she's very no-nonsense, and she'll expect you to work hard. I think it will be to your benefit to undergo some training with her."</p><p>I nodded. "If you say so. Not like I couldn't use the distraction anyway."</p><p>"It's the can-do attitude and willingness to learn that truly makes you an asset to Spirit World," Koenma said, his sarcasm palpable.</p><p>"I'm not exactly in a great headspace," I said.</p><p>"Well, Genkai isn't going to tolerate your sass, so I'd work on that," Koenma said. "But trust me. After training with her, you'll feel better. Your head should be back on a little straighter."</p><p>I let out a long, deep sigh. I couldn't remember the last time my head felt like it was on straight. Two weeks ago before I stepped into that bathhouse? Maybe I'd had a brief moment of clarity on the roof with Yusuke yesterday morning—a brief hour of sleep with no nightmares, no blood on my hands.</p><p>"I know things have been difficult since your last assignment," Koenma said. "And know that I value your wellbeing over this job. If we had known--."</p><p>I held up a hand. "No one could've known what she was going to do. What <em>I </em>was going to do."</p><p>Koenma nodded. "Go to see Genkai. In my experience, she's always made sure people learned about themselves, for better or worse."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Genkai</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Just a head's up. As far as Dragon Ball canon goes, I'm not including anything from GT or Super. Only Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. This is an AU so there are no rules anyway. No rules!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Genkai lived just south of Fire Mountain Village and basically in the middle of nowhere. I climbed an extensive set of stairs and a large, quiet dojo sat at the top.</p><p>The forest gave me chills. There was definitely some not fun stuff in there. I raised my hand to knock on the door, but it slid open. Before me stood a small woman, easily no more three feet tall, with a head of pinkish gray hair. She held a lit cigarette between her fingers.</p><p>"What?" she asked in a gravelly voice.</p><p>"Um, hi. I'm Kairi. I'm looking for Genkai," I said. "Am I in the right place?"</p><p>She took a drag from her cigarette and exhaled a cloud of gray smoke.</p><p>"Congratulations, you've found me," she said.</p><p>Koenma had said she'd be no-nonsense, but that seemed to be a heavy-handed understatement.</p><p>"Well, I'm here because--."</p><p>"You said your name was Kairi?" I nodded. She smirked. "Your Koenma's new detective. I think you're the youngest one. Did he hire you right out of preschool?"</p><p>"I'm 14 actually," I said.</p><p>"Basically an infant," she said. "He told me to expect you. Come with me."</p><p>She turned, and I followed her around the corner of the dojo. There was an open room, inside sat cushions around a table where there was a pot of tea and two cups.</p><p>"Sit," she motioned.</p><p>I did as she instructed and she sat across from, jabbing her cigarette out in her ash tray.</p><p>"So," she said, "what did I do to have Koenma send the Spirit Detective to come knock on my door?"</p><p>"Well," I began, "I'm a bit psychic."</p><p>"A bit?" she asked. "Care to elaborate?"</p><p>"Just, you know, simple stuff. Telekinesis, telepathy, and kind of precognition," I said.</p><p>"Kind of?" she asked.</p><p>"I don't have any control over what I see or when I see it. It comes and goes," I said.</p><p>"Have you ever tried controlling it?" she asked.</p><p>I shrugged. "Never really saw the need."</p><p>I could feel the eye roll. "So, the new Spirit Detective is lazy."</p><p>"I'm not lazy," I said.</p><p>"Why have you never worked on honing your psychic abilities?" she asked.</p><p>"Because, I never saw the need to," I said. "I do fine without them."</p><p>"But I'm sure you train very hard to fight demons, don't you?" she asked.</p><p>I nodded. "My fists have always worked great."</p><p>"And because your fists have always worked great, you decided not to exercise your brain because it's not something that came easily to you," she said. "Lazy. I bet your Spirit Energy is abysmal as well."</p><p>"I wouldn't say <em>abysmal.</em> It's just not--."</p><p>"Been worked on or refined in any way to make it useful," Genkai said. "Koenma really picked a winner with you."</p><p>I frowned. "Hey, lady, I do an outstanding job as Spirit Detectives. The only ones complaining are the idiots who whose asses I kick."</p><p>"What are you going to do when your brute strength doesn't work?" she asked.</p><p>"Brute strength always works. I have a great success rate to prove it," I said.</p><p>She whacked me on the forehead. "I said, what are you going to do when brute strength doesn't work? Have you worked on using your brain at all? What are you going to do when you face a problem you can't punch?"</p><p>I rubbed the spot on my forehead where she'd hit me. "All right, I get it. I'm a lazy piece of shit who needs to use her brain. So, what do I do about it?"</p><p>"You start working on your brain. And your Spirit Energy, for that matter," she said.</p><p>"My Spirit Energy? I just came here--."</p><p>"I'm only going to say this once, so listen up. If I'm going to help you, you're not going to half-ass anything You're going to do what I tell you and if I get any lip, you're going to feel it," Genkai said.</p><p>"You gonna smack my forehead again?" I asked.</p><p>And then she punched me in the face, knocking me to the ground.</p><p>"I'll do worse than that next time," she said.</p><p>"Good lord, woman," I said, rubbing my cheek. "I can't remember the last time someone punched me and it hurt."</p><p>She poured herself a cup of tea and sipped it slowly. "I'd drink that if I were. This is the last moment of peace you're going to have while you're here."<br/><br/></p><hr/><p> </p><p>Genkai was a straight up psychopath.</p><p>I was very used to training. I was used to going hours and hours, using my ki nonstop. But I was not great at using my Spirit Energy. Genkai leaned heavily on this.</p><p>After I finished my tea, she had me balance on one finger using my Spirit Energy, on the tip of a point, and stay there for 18 hours.</p><p>I was wiped and slept like the dead afterward, but after exactly eight hours of sleep, we were back to work. Because I had so little control, she said, this was going to be a daily exercise, for at least six hours.</p><p>But she knew that I was also there for help with my psychic abilities. First, my telekinesis was "woefully underdeveloped." She said she was going to hit me, and that I was only allowed to defend myself with my mind.</p><p>"I can't make psychic barriers," I said.</p><p>"Not with that attitude, you can't," she said.</p><p>And she proceeded to beat my ass. Thankfully, we only did that training every other day. On the off days, she had me sit at the edge of the forest and listen.</p><p>After a week of this, I was at my wits end.</p><p>"What am I supposed to be hearing?" I asked. "Listening isn't very specific."</p><p>"Don't listen with your ears," Genkai said.</p><p>I frowned. "Lady, my ears are the only part of me that can hear." She smacked me upside my head. "Can you not?"</p><p>"You came here because you wanted help with your psychic abilities, didn't you? Maybe try using your head," Genkai said.</p><p>"Listen with my head?" I asked.</p><p>"Don't make me smack you again," she said.</p><p>"I know, I know. It's just, I worked very hard at shutting extra noise out," I said. "It's distracting. That has to make sense even to you."</p><p>Genkai nodded, understandingly. "We build walls to keep us safe. It's natural to want to defend your mind from the onslaught of noise from the outside world, but it has a price. Nothing in, nothing out."</p><p>"I guess," I said.</p><p>"Would it be a fair assumption to say that during moments of great stress or emotional upheaval are the times when you most commonly find yourself with the ability to see the future?" Genkai asked.</p><p>I thought back. That was probably accurate. How many times had I been having a shit day or be in the middle of an assignment and then predict something and think to myself "Well now on top of everything else I have to figure out what the fuck I just saw."</p><p>"When you're under stress, your defenses are weaker," Genkai said. "And that's when those messages can get through."</p><p>"Yeah, but if I start knocking walls down, things are gonna pretty uncomfortable in here," I said, poking my head.</p><p>"Don't think of it as knocking walls down. Try making a door," Genkai said. "Open the door and let the sound in."</p><p>"And then what?" I asked.</p><p>"Find one voice in all the noise and tune the others out," Genkai said.</p><p>"Any particular voice you feel like I should look for?" I asked.</p><p>"Nope. There's a lot of noise here, not just in the woods. Take your pick," she said. "Don't let the noise overwhelm you. It's just noise. You have to focus."</p><p>I nodded and closed my eyes. Genkai was the master, after all. I just had to open a door. Opening a door to a forest full of apparitions was horrifying, but at least she wasn't hitting me today.</p><p>
  <em>Focus. Focus. Focus.</em>
</p><p>And then I let the noise in. Despite my best effort, it was still overwhelming. I'd had the noise switched to off for the longest time. If I was reading people's minds, I usually had a target, a face, something to go off. But this was pure noise, pure chaos.</p><p>But then I heard something. Something that felt familiar.</p><p>I listened, followed it. What was that? I willed the other voices into near silence, whispers that I could ignore. It felt like I was trying to hear someone to talk over music at a party and I was upstairs in the bathroom trying. But it was familiar. It was so close. What was that? Who was that?</p><p>And then the noise stopped. I was in the woods. My cousin, Shuichi, stood in front of me. He was talking but I couldn't hear him. He turned his back to me and went into the trees.</p><p>The vision was gone, and I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at Genkai, standing beside me. The sky was dark now.</p><p>"I think you've done enough for today," she said.</p><p>"I saw something," I said. "It was my cousin, Shuichi, but--."</p><p>"What?" Genkai asked.</p><p>"Shuichi doesn't feel like his name?" I asked. I didn't even know what the fuck I was talking about. His name didn't feel right? I listened to this old lady and now I was <em>feeling </em>things too? "I never felt things, I just saw them play out. And why his name?"</p><p>Shuichi had always been weird. His Spirit Energy was weird, he had red hair, he was borderline a genius, and until I was 10 or 11, he mostly didn't even like talking to me. But his name?</p><p>"I'm sure it will all make sense eventually," Genkai said. "But for now, I suggest you get some sleep while you can."</p><p>Yes, because tomorrow I would go back to being punched for no reason. Rest would be good. I got to my feet and looked out at the forest and thought back to what I'd been trying to hear.</p><p>"What did you mean when you said that the noise wasn't just in the woods?" I asked.</p><p>"This forest is old. It has long been a place where Spirit World and the Human World have been able to coexist in harmony," Genkai said. "I think you'll find more than just creatures in the forest willing to talk while you're here."<br/><br/></p><hr/><p> </p><p>"I'm sorry, Keiko," I said into my phone. I'd been ignoring her texts and her calls for a week. The last time I'd seen her had been at the wake, and then I'd gone home. I didn't know what I was supposed to say to her knowing that Yusuke could come back. But I owed her.</p><p>"You should be," Keiko said. "A lot of weird stuff has been happening since you left."</p><p>"Weird like what?" I asked. Keiko was silent on the other end of the phone for a long time. "Earth to Keiko."</p><p>"… Do you believe in ghosts, Kairi?" she asked.</p><p>Well, that was a loaded fucking question.</p><p>"I mean, I guess so," I said.</p><p>"… Do you think people can communicate with us after they die?" she asked.</p><p>This conversation smelled heavily of Spirit World involvement. If Yusuke's soul was separated from his body and his spirit was still wandering around, there was a heavy chance that he could communicate with Keiko. And why wouldn't he?</p><p>"Keiko… Have you spoken to Yusuke?" I asked.</p><p>"You're going to think I'm insane," Keiko said.</p><p>She could not be more wrong about that.</p><p>"I really am not," I said. "What did he say?"</p><p>"… Don't freak out," she said. And then she parroted back to me exactly what Koenma had told me Yusuke was going to do, omitting only the information about Spirit Detective. Interestingly, Yusuke chose to give Keiko this information by possessing Kuwabara's body, which was hilarious to think about. "So now I'm going over to his house every day just to check up on his body and make sure he doesn't end up buried under a pile of garbage."</p><p>"I take it that Atsuko is taking it well then," I said.</p><p>"You don't know the half of it," Keiko said. "I haven't even seen her in two days."</p><p>"That sounds like her M.O.," I said.</p><p>"… You're weirdly not freaking out by this," Keiko said.</p><p>"Why would you lie?" I asked. I skipped the fact that when I met my own dad, it was after he'd been dead for seven years, and then he was revived by way of collecting tiny, orange balls and summoning a giant dragon to grant our wish. Yusuke's revival didn't blip on the radar as weird.</p><p>"It's just crazy to think that…" Keiko paused.</p><p>"Yeah," I said. "I miss him too."</p><p>"Well, you shouldn't be running off by yourself just because you're sad," she said. And we were back to the scolding. "Sometimes I think you don't know how to process your emotions. And when you get scared or sad or anything, you just shut them off and pretend that everything is fine."</p><p>"Well, everything is fine. You said so yourself," I said.</p><p>"But you didn't know that when I called you. And it's only if Yusuke doesn't get himself eaten by a giant monster or something," Keiko said. "Not dealing with your problems isn't going to help you in the long run."</p><p>"Keiko, I'm fine. I'm out for some parent approved training. You know how much I love exercise," I said.</p><p>"Because you're a freak," she said.</p><p>"I'll be home in one week," I said. "Then you can yell at me in person."</p><p>"And I will," she said. "You know, if you were more in touch with your emotions, you wouldn't be so upset that you like Trunks."</p><p>I frowned. "I'm going to hang up now."</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Genkai looked like a frail old lady and she smoked like a chimney, but her form was perfect. She was fast, and she was strong. Which made it really easy for her to keep punching and kicking the shit out of me while I tried to stop her with my mind.</p><p>But then it happened. She came at me with a kick and bounced away automatically. We both stared at each other for a moment.</p><p>"There you go," she said. "I knew eventually you'd get tired of being covered in bruises." She came at me again and I deflected her again and again and again. "Finally. I was beginning to worry that you'd never learn. How does it feel?"</p><p>"I don't know," I said. "It's kind of just like a light switch went on in my head."</p><p>"Good. Because now we're going to work on the hard part," she said.</p><p>"Hard part? This wasn't the hard part?" I asked.</p><p>"Projectiles," she said.</p><p>"Projectiles?" I asked.</p><p>Arrows, rocks, BOULDERS. Deflecting one kick or one punch was easy, but multiple targets was a horse of a different color.</p><p>I went to bed still bruised and battered that night. And the next day I was back to sitting in front of the forest.</p><p>I closed my eyes and concentrated. It was much easier to tune the voices out this time. And I could hear it again, something familiar in the distance. It wasn't calling out to me. I could just hear it. Like passing someone on the street and recognizing their voice but not being able to place where you know them from.</p><p>All the other voices faded away. The forest around me fell into silence and the world beyond. They all hushed. And I could hear it, so clearly now, as if that familiar voice was right next to me.</p><p>"I did a lot of good deeds today, didn't I?"</p><p>An ache formed in my chest. My throat tightened.</p><p>"Yusuke," I said aloud. That's who I'd heard through all the noise. A spirit just on the edge of life.</p><p>"Yo! What the fuck? Did you hear that?"</p><p>I was shocked. "Oh, my god, you can hear me."</p><p>"I sure as shit can hear you. Who the fuck--?" he paused. "Wait. Kairi?"</p><p>"The one and only," I said.</p><p>"That's cool, but how the fuck are you doing this? And why can only I hear you?" Yusuke asked.</p><p>Right. I had to focus. I'd opened a door, only allowed in what I wanted in.</p><p>"Botan," I said.</p><p>"My goodness, Kairi! I guess your training is going well. Koenma will be so pleased," Botan said.</p><p>"Wait? You know each other? You know Koenma?" Yusuke asked. "How am I dead and still out of the loop?"</p><p>I could feel tears streaming down my cheeks. "It doesn't matter, Yusuke. I'll tell you about it later. I'm just… It's good to hear your voice."</p><p>"Wait, are you crying? Didn't Spirit World give you the memo, I should be able to pop right back into my body here pretty soon," he said.</p><p>"Yeah, if you don't let yourself get eaten," I said.</p><p>"I am TRYING. I helped Kuwabara study," Yusuke said.</p><p>"And beat up a lot of people," Botan said.</p><p>"I did it to be helpful," he said.</p><p>Slowly, exhaustion crept in. Right. Communicating with the dead probably was mentally taxing.</p><p>"Yusuke, I have to go," I said. "But just do whatever Botan says and behave yourself."</p><p>"Yeah, all right. As long as you bring your butt home to hang out with Keiko. She keeps getting into trouble," Yusuke said.</p><p>"I will. She already yelled at me," I said.</p><p>"Good," he said. "See you soon."</p><p>I closed the door. Opened my eyes. It was dusk now. I wiped my tears away.</p><p>"Did you know I'd hear him?" I asked. I could feel Genkai standing behind me.</p><p>"I didn't know what you'd hear," Genkai asked. "Communicating with the dead is not a talent that I have in my bag of tricks, not even when I was at my best." She sat down beside me in the grass. "It's a shame that you've waited so long to work on something other than punching. You have a lot more to offer than that. I think you've only scratched the surface."</p><p>I shrugged. "My mom didn't let me train to fight when I was younger, not in the beginning anyway. I feel like I've always been trying to play catch up with my brothers."</p><p>"Maybe you're not meant to play catch up. Maybe you're meant to surpass them in your own way," Genkai said. "Do any of your brothers have psychic abilities?" I shook my head. "Your physical strength is not your only strength. You've got a lot of potential if you don't squander it and start using that head of yours. You could be a powerful psychic if you actually work at it."</p><p>"I guess I've spent so much time trying to close the gap between me and my brothers that I've never bothered to see if I was good at anything else," I said. Then I chuckled. "Weird."</p><p>"What?" Genkai asked.</p><p>"Just, someone thinking I could be good at something other than fighting," I said. "That I could be good at anything. Weird."</p><p>"There is more to life than how big your muscles are," Genkai said.</p><p>"Well, try telling that to my dad," I said.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Time For Some Smoochin'</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I fell face-first onto the ground and Genkai responded by literally kicking me while I was down, literally.</p><p>"Didn't I tell you I wasn't going to tolerate you half-assing it, Slacker?" she asked.</p><p>She called me Slacker more than she called me my own name most of the time. Admittedly, today I was not on top of my game and definitely not focusing.</p><p>"I'm sorry; I didn't sleep well last night," I said. "And might I add that you're not letting me sleep now?"</p><p>Because I had what was basically a nightmare. I'd spent my entire life not having any romantic feelings towards Yusuke. He was basically my brother. So dreaming about kissing him was unacceptable.</p><p>I told myself to chalk the dream up to having spoken to him last week for the first time since his ill-fated meeting with a sports car. But we were well into the evening and I was still bothered by it.</p><p>"You're going to stay awake until you can do this properly," Genkai said. "One bad night of sleep is no excuse for a backslide."</p><p>"You've never had a bad dream that just stuck with you?" I asked.</p><p>"I have plenty of bad dreams, but I don't let them bother me," Genkai said. "I think you're finding excuses to slack off. Do you ask demons to take it easy on you when you have a bad day?"</p><p>I groaned.</p><p>"I'm sure your daddy takes it easy on you when you're having a rough day, but you'll get no sympathy from me," she said. "Get back on the pin."</p><p>I charged up my spirit energy to my fingers and did as instructed, balancing myself on the tip of a pin. The trick was to use just enough energy to stay balanced, and no more. I had to keep the energy consistent.</p><p>And then Koenma flew in through the door.</p><p>"Kairi! You need to get back to the city!" Koenma said.</p><p>I fell off the pin.</p><p>"I'm coming back tomorrow. What do you want?" I asked.</p><p>"I thought you wanted your friend back and you're not even going to help him?" Koenma asked.</p><p>"Help him how?" I asked getting to my feet.</p><p>"Didn't he talk to you in your dream?" Koenma asked.</p><p>"Dream?" I asked. I paused for a moment. "Oh, my god, he put that dumb kiss in my head?"</p><p>Genkai scoffed. "You've been having a shit day because you dreamed about kissing a boy?"</p><p>"Yusuke is like my brother. I don't want to kiss him," I said. "Why did he make me dream about kissing him?"</p><p>"Because Yusuke can be revived! He just needs a small bit of energy transferred!" Koenma said. "Through the lips. It has to be from someone close to him! Kuwabara was a no go and Keiko's mother is in the hospital and probably won't make it in time."</p><p>"Make it in time?" I asked.</p><p>"He only has until midnight or he'll have to wait another 40 years!" Koenma asked.</p><p>I groaned. "Well, Genkai. I guess this is where we go our separate ways for now. I have to go save Yusuke's ass."</p><p>"That's what friends do," Genkai said. "Keep working on more than just your muscles."</p><p>"Will do," I said. I went and grabbed my things from my room, looking at my phone. "Koenma why did you wait until I had less than an hour to do this? Why didn't you just come and tell me this morning?"</p><p>"Well, he had better options this morning!" Koenma said.</p><p>"I bet Yusuke fucking hates you," I said.</p><p>"Just stop complaining and go," he said.</p><p>I jumped out the window and flew off. I was going to have to hustle to get there. I was already dead on my feet as it was, working my Spirit Energy all day. My ki was still at full power, but I could barely keep my eyes open.</p><p>I finally landed on Yusuke's street and then I remembered.</p><p>A phone call from Keio yesterday. A fire. Yusuke's house burned down. His house wasn't his house anymore. He'd moved. I pulled out my phone and called Keiko. No answer. Of course. I called Trunks.</p><p>"Hello?" he answered groggily.</p><p>"I need Yusuke Urameshi's address," I said.</p><p>"What?" he asked.</p><p>"I need his mom's new address," I said.</p><p>"Kairi it's almost midnight. I haven't heard from you in two weeks," he said.</p><p>"Trunks, for the love of all please get me his address right now. I need to be there now," I said.</p><p>"Kairi, I don't know it," he said. "I need to go to the computer. It'll take me a minute to find it," he said.</p><p>"Not helpful," I said. I hung up the phone and shoved it in my pocket. Okay. Now what? I'd spent two weeks with Genkai. I needed to use my brain. I couldn't sense Spirit Energy from here, but…</p><p>Maybe I could find Yusuke again?</p><p>I closed my eyes. Open the door. Quiet the noise. Find one voice. Find Yusuke.</p><p>And I could hear him. I followed him. I ran as fast as my feet could carry me. Upstairs and stairs and more stairs to an unlocked door. I was out of my shoes and racing through a hallway and into a bedroom. And there he was, lying there, glowing and golden like he had been in my dream.</p><p>I didn't have time to contemplate this. I knelt down beside his bed and I kissed him. I pulled away from him and the glow started to fade. I waited. I stared. Only the sound of my breathing was in my ears.</p><p>And then he sat up.</p><p>I felt tears spring to my eyes. I covered my mouth to hold in a sob.</p><p>"Took your ass long enough," he said, stretching.</p><p>And then I did start sobbing, kneeling beside his bed, crying my eyes out.</p><p>"I don't think I've ever seen you cry," he said.</p><p>I reached out and whacked his leg. "You come back from the dead and your first instinct is to be an asshole?"</p><p>"And yours is to cry?" he asked.</p><p>"You were dead!" I said.</p><p>"I noticed you weren't going to be around for my funeral. Out in the woods training apparently?" he said.</p><p>"I just," I started to talk but started sobbing again. And then I felt arms around me. Yusuke. Alive. Here. Hugging me.</p><p>"I know, so distraught about my death you had to run away. I understand," he said.</p><p>I sobbed and shook my head. "I left because I knew you were coming back."</p><p>"Hey," he said. He put his hands on my shoulders and pushed me away slightly so he could look at me. "And I'm back. So stop crying."</p><p>I wiped my tears away and nodded. "I'm glad you're back."</p><p>"Yeah, me too," he said. "You know, you're not a half-bad kisser."</p><p>"Well, I used my very first one to bring you back to life, so be thankful," I said.</p><p>"Oh, were you saving it for someone?" Yusuke asked.</p><p>"It definitely wasn't supposed to be you," I said.</p><p>"Maybe a certain purple-haired classmate then?" Yusuke teased.</p><p>"You just came back to life, don't make me murder you," I said, ignoring the fact that my cheeks were burning.</p><p>Yusuke laughed. My phone rang. I fished it out of my pocket. Trunks, of course.</p><p>"It's after midnight. He's only calling you for one thing," Yusuke said. I punched him in the arm.</p><p>"You're fucking annoying," I said.</p><p>"Hey," he said, "how do you know Botan?"</p><p>"It's a long story," I said. "I'll tell you tomorrow."</p><p>"Yusuke!" a voice called out. Keiko was running through the apartment and came to stand in the doorway. The room was still as she stared at him, tears in her eyes. Yusuke smiled at her. She started to sob, but her feet carried her quickly across the room and as soon as she reached him, she tossed her arms around him and kissed him.</p><p>I was taken aback for a moment, but Yusuke was more so, at least he was until he kissed her back.</p><p>I let the moment go on a little longer until I cleared my throat and they looked over to me.</p><p>"Super stoked for you guys, but I was getting uncomfortable," I said.</p><p>Keiko wiped more tears from her eyes. "I thought you weren't getting back until tomorrow?"</p><p>"Yeah, but then I had a weird-ass dream and thought maybe I should come home and traumatize myself forever by kissing Yusuke to bring him back to life, so here I am," I said.</p><p>Keiko came over and hugged me. "Thanks for your sacrifice."</p><p>"Of course," I said. "See, Yusuke. Keiko thanked me for bringing you back to life. What do you have to say?"</p><p>"That Keiko is a very nice person," Yusuke said. I rolled my eyes and my phone started to ring again. Trunks. I ignored the call again. "Still playing hard to get I see."</p><p>"Its gonna be really easy to get a foot up your ass if you keep it up," I said. "I've gotta go. You two make safe choices."</p><p>"Ha. Ha," Keiko said.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>"Yusuke was coming back from the dead and you didn't bother to tell me?" Trunks asked me the next morning. I went to his house during breakfast the next morning. I sat next to him at the counter while I told him about the events that had taken place last night.</p><p>"I had a lot going on," I said, pulling a slice of bacon from his plate. "I needed to clear my head, so I did."</p><p>"You didn't tell anyone where you were going," Trunks said as I ate his bacon. "Your mom called and yelled at me because she didn't know where you went. You just said you were going to train."</p><p>"Yeah. That's where I went," I said. "I was just outside of Fire Mountain Village."</p><p>"That would've been nice to know," Trunks said.</p><p>"Koenma knew where I was," I said.</p><p>"Because your boss is so easy to get in contact with," he said rolling his eyes. I reached for another piece of bacon and he swatted my hand away. "You do know that people worry about you right? That <em>I</em> worry about you."</p><p>"I don't need worrying over," I said.</p><p>"Yeah, but I still do," he said.</p><p>"Why?" I asked.</p><p>"I don't know. I guess I just like you or whatever," he said.</p><p>Bulma who had walked into the kitchen now backed out slowly.</p><p>I stared at Trunks for a long moment.</p><p>"You have to say something," he said.</p><p>"I'm thinking about it," I said.</p><p>"You're thinking about it?" he asked. "Are you really trying to convince me this is one-sided?"</p><p>"No," I said, "but you are my brother's best friend and you're on the shortlist of people I call best friend also."</p><p>"And?" he asked.</p><p>"What if we broke up?" I asked.</p><p>"We could still be friends," he said.</p><p>"Unrealistic," I said.</p><p>"Well, then we could just never break up," Trunks said.</p><p>"Also, unrealistic," I said. "We're 14. Nobody survives forever when they're our age."</p><p>"Your parents did," he said.</p><p>"My parents are fucking weird," I said.</p><p>"And you're not?" he said. "You don't even want to try?"</p><p>He reached out and took hold of my hand. Heat instantly rose in my cheeks.</p><p>"You're annoying," I groaned.</p><p>"Why?" he asked.</p><p>"Because, everything you say I always just end up agreeing with," I said. "''Kairi, do your homework. Tell people where you disappear off too. Eat breakfast--.'"</p><p>"Go out with me?" he asked.</p><p>I sighed. "It's not the worst I've ever heard."</p><p>"And what if," he said in a low whisper, leaning closer to me, "I wanted to kiss you right now?"</p><p>I had to have some control in this situation so I leaned forward and kissed him.</p><p>With Yusuke, that was nothing. This was a kiss. He let go of my hand and it came to rest of the side of my face. He pulled away from me a little and I kissed him again and he pulled me closer. I could've kissed him all day.</p><p>"Ahem." We pulled away from each other. Bulma had returned the kitchen. "Refrain from making out in my kitchen, please."</p><p>"I have to go anyway," I said getting up. "I have Spirit Detective things to do."</p><p>"Already?" Trunks asked.</p><p>"Yeah. Apparently, one of the reasons Koenma revived Yusuke was to make him my partner so I have to go tell him," I said.</p><p>"Yusuke's supposed to be Spirit Detective?" Trunks asked.</p><p>"Crazy, but true," I said. "I'll text you later."</p><p>"You are bad at communicating," Trunks said.</p><p>"I literally just told you. That's communicating," I said. "But I have to go. There's an imp in a boy and I gotta go deal with that."</p><p>"An imp in a boy?" he asked.</p><p>"I gotta go. I'll call you. I promise, but I got demons to deal with," I said.</p><p>"Call!" he said.</p><p>"I will, I will," I said. I ran out the front door and pulled out my phone at the same instant it rang in my hand. I answered. "Do you know if it affects my data plan when you guys call me?"</p><p>"Well, good morning to you too," Botan said on the other line. "It looks like Yusuke has already intercepted the target. Where are you?"</p><p>"I'm coming," I said. "I got a little distracted this morning."</p><p>Kissing Trunks in his kitchen. And all I wanted to do was go drag him off to kiss him some more. Somewhere his mom wouldn't bother us.</p><p>"I'm sending Yusuke's location to your phone," Botan said. "He'll have no trouble handling this on his own, but he'll likely be a bit perplexed by the whole ordeal. Koenma and I thought it better if you explained things to him. I'm sure he's sick to death of the two of us."</p><p>"Or you're sick to death of him," I said. "But I'll handle it." I ended the phone call and checked my messages. Yusuke wasn't actually very far from me. I headed off toward him, finally catching up to him by the river, chasing someone into a tunnel under a bridge. I ran over to the bridge and jumped down to the exit of the tunnel.</p><p>Yusuke had already pummeled the boy into unconsciousness and was now holding the demon in his hand.</p><p>"You're too big to be a bug or something," Yusuke said to the demon.</p><p>"He's a parasite demon," I said. Yusuke looked up at me.</p><p>"What the hell are you doing here?" Yusuke asked.</p><p>"Congratulating you on a stellar job," I said. "I have trouble with the little fish. It's a big pond. I mean, what kind of demon just crawls inside of a human boy and harasses people? Lame, right?"</p><p>"What?" he asked.</p><p>"Like I said, he's a parasite demon. Burrows into humans, feeds on the darkness in their souls, and forces them to do bad shit," I said.</p><p>"You have to be more specific about what the fuck is happening," Yusuke said.</p><p>"You asked how I knew Botan," I said. I pointed to the demon. "This is how. I'm the Spirit Detective." He frowned at me. "There are demons that come over and make trouble for humans. I round them up and send them packing back to Spirit World."</p><p>Yusuke stared at me in slight disbelief.</p><p>"Dude, you were dead two days ago. You're holding a demon in your hand. This can't be that hard to believe," I said. I grabbed the demon from him</p><p>Yusuke let out a sigh. "I guess that's true."</p><p>"You wanna help?" I asked.</p><p>"Help? Help what?" he asked.</p><p>"Help me. Be Spirit Detective. Fight some demons, Save the world," I said. "I can teach you some cool party tricks you can use to kick some ass."</p><p>"I don't know. I was hoping to take it easy now that I'm not dead anymore," Yusuke said. "Even this was too much effort."</p><p>I sighed. "Koenma's not really giving you the option."</p><p>"Not giving me the option?" he asked. "Who the hell does he think he is? He can't just make me do stuff."</p><p>"Actually, I can!"</p><p>Yusuke and I both jumped as Koenma appeared at the end of the tunnel.</p><p>"Can you not do that?" I asked.</p><p>"Kairi's got a lot on her plate right now. It'd be helpful for her to have a partner to share the load. And she means it about that party tricks," Koenma said. "You'll probably be better at it than her actually."</p><p>"Only if he puts some work in, which is not his strong suit," I said. I held the demon out to Koenma. "Here you go since you're here anyway."</p><p>"Uh, thank you?" he said.</p><p>"You like this gig?" Yusuke asked.</p><p>I shrugged. "I'm too strong to punch the bottom feeders at school. This helps."</p><p>"Too strong to punch the kids at school?" Yusuke asked.</p><p>I made a fist and slammed it into the stone wall, leaving a crater.</p><p>"Holy shit! What the fuck?!" Yusuke asked.</p><p>"It's not a big deal. I've been able to do that since I was a kid. Probably fresh out the womb," I said. "But I'm all physical strength. There's no skill involved. But your Spirit Energy is already pretty dope."</p><p>"Spirit Energy?" Yusuke asked.</p><p>"That basically comes from your soul," I said, poking him in the chest. "You have the potential to be pretty impressive."</p><p>"Kairi will help you work on your skills," Koenma said. "And, of course, you'll have Botan there to assist you as well."</p><p>"I had a different assistant my first year, but she said I was 'too much', whatever that means," I said rolling my eyes.</p><p>"It means you gave someone a compound fracture and told them to 'stop crying like a little bitch' is what it means," Koenma said.</p><p>"Wait? First-year? How long you been doing this?" Yusuke asked.</p><p>"Since I was 11, so just over three years," I said. "Pretty cool right?"</p><p>"Pretty scary. No wonder you just give people a look and they avoid you," Yusuke said. "You probably do all kinds of crazy shit."</p><p>I thought back to my last assignment. The bathhouse. The girls. The blood.</p><p>"I'm gonna go. I told my mom I'd go see my aunt today, but we'll catch up tomorrow after school, okay?" I asked.</p><p>"You good?" Yusuke asked.</p><p>"Yeah. I'm fine," I said. "Never better. You're alive, you're gonna help me kick some demon butt. I've got no worries."<br/>
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<hr/><p> </p><p>Shiori was my mother's sister. She lived in West City and largely kept to herself. My mother made a point to keep her out of all of the crazy shenanigans my father and I got into. However, about five years ago, Shiori got very sick and had been in and out of the hospital. Presently, she'd been in the hospital for the last three weeks, with no signs of improvement. Her prognosis was grim.</p><p>Because I was in the city all of the time anyway, my mom made sure that Goten and I visited her a few times a week. I'd slacked off since Yusuke died, obviously, but I diligently made my way to the hospital.</p><p>My cousin Shuichi was sitting beside his mother, reading aloud to her though she was sleeping. Goten was sitting there scrolling through his phone.</p><p>"Hello, strangers," I said. Shuichi looked up to me and smiled.</p><p>"Hello, Kairi," he said, closing the book.</p><p>"How was your sabbatical?" Goten asked.</p><p>"Is that what you called it?" I asked.</p><p>"I believe that was what Chichi decided to call it in lieu of hunting you down and ripping you into pieces," Shuichi said.</p><p>"You're late," Goten said.</p><p>"Well, first I went to see Trunks so he could yell at me for my sabbatical," I said.</p><p>"Mmhmm. I heard about that," Goten said with a smirk, not looking up from his phone. Then he started making kissy noises and smacked him upside his head. He only laughed.</p><p>"Are you two finally dating then?" Shuichi asked.</p><p>"We're not doing anything," I said.</p><p>"Except smoochin'," Goten said.</p><p>"Don't make me hit you again," I said. "You're almost as bad as Yusuke."</p><p>"Speaking of, how is the idiot?" Goten asked.</p><p>"He's great," I said.</p><p>"Great?" Shuichi asked. "Didn't you tell me two weeks ago that he got hit by a car and died?"</p><p>"He got better," I said simply.</p><p>Shuichi narrowed his eyes on me. "Strangeness always seems to follow you, Kairi."</p><p>"Ugh, Mom's calling me," Goten said looking at his phone. He answered it and walked out of the room.</p><p>Shuichi wasn't the only person to have strangeness follow him. Red hair, green eyes, the weird spirit energy. I usually ignored all the weirdness, considering that he was my cousin, but since I'd been to see to Genkai. Since I'd had that vision, that feeling.</p><p>"This is going to be a weird question," I said, "but, Shuichi is, like, your name isn't it?"</p><p>He cocked an eyebrow at me. "What do you mean?"</p><p>"I mean like, on your birth certificate it says like, Shuichi Minamino? Like, that's your real name?" I asked.</p><p>"Are you suggesting I have some sort of secret identity?" Shuichi asked with a smirk.</p><p>I shook my head. "Just ignore me."</p><p>Goten walked back into the room. "Just giving you a heads up, Bulma called mom and that was mom calling me."</p><p>"Why would she call you?" I asked.</p><p>"Because she knew you wouldn't give her any information," Goten said. "Then I told her if she was really smart she would know that you wouldn't give me any information, so now I'm grounded for a week."</p><p>"Glad it's you for once and not me," I said.</p><p>"I doubt Mom will ground you ever again. I think dating Trunks is probably the best thing you could ever do for her," Goten said.</p><p>"We're not dating. We're not doing anything. We haven't talked about anything. One kiss does not mean anything," I said.</p><p>"It was a bit more than one kiss," Goten said.</p><p>"I'm definitely not going to date him if he's going to tell my brother every time we make out," I said.</p><p>"So, you admit it," Goten said.</p><p>I whacked him again.</p><p>"That bickering can only be my favorite niece and nephew," Shiori said, stirring from her sleep.</p><p>"Sorry, we didn't mean to wake you," I said.</p><p>"I sleep enough," she said dismissively.</p><p>"We were just making fun of Kairi because she has a boyfriend now," Goten said.</p><p>"He's not my boyfriend," I said.</p><p>"Is it Trunks?" Shiori asked.</p><p>"Of course it's Trunks," Shuichi said.</p><p>"I'm never kissing anyone again," I said.</p><p>They all laughed. I looked over to Shuichi. Outwardly, he seemed fine, but I could feel it. He was lying to me.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Family Secrets</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Those bitches; they never gave me any cool stuff," I said.</p><p>"Maybe they think Urameshi needs all the help he can get," Trunks said.</p><p>Yusuke frowned. "Is there a reason the peanut gallery had to join us?"</p><p>It was lunchtime and we'd gathered on the roof to have a conversation in semi-private, but naturally, Trunks and Goten joined us because they were privy to most of my Spirit Detective goings-on and were still kind of in shock that Koenma had assigned Yusuke to help me.</p><p>"I'm just nosy," Goten said. "Trunks is probably trying to keep an eye on you so you don't make a move on his girl."</p><p>"Gross," Yusuke and I said in unison.</p><p>"If you knew the kind of stuff she got into, you might be more concerned about taking on this job," Trunks said.</p><p>"I'm not doing this by choice," Yusuke said. "By all means, jump in and take over if you want the job."</p><p>I held up a hand. "Goten and Trunks might be smart and strong but being able to sense Spirit Energy with any degree of accuracy is a requirement for this job and, boy, do they not meet it."</p><p>"Well, can't be good at everything," Yusuke said with a smirk.</p><p>"I'd get off my high horse if I were you. You're still a little wet behind the ears to be making those kinds of statements," Trunks said. "Just do whatever Kairi tells you and try not to get yourself killed. Again."</p><p>"Yeah, yeah," Yusuke said dismissively. He closed the case with his detective items and handed them to me. "Hold onto these, will you? I gotta take a leak."</p><p>"Certainly," I said as he walked away. "I really have got my work cut out for me with that guy."</p><p>"You could try dropping him off with dad for a week. That would toughen him up," Goten said.</p><p>"Yeah," I said.</p><p>"I guess that means your weekend is going to be pretty busy then," Trunks said.</p><p>"Probably," I said. "Yusuke has never been a quick learner."</p><p>"But if I wanted to hang out, do you think you could find the time?" he asked.</p><p>I looked up at him. "You mean, like, a date?"</p><p>"Uh, yeah," he said.</p><p>I went to answer but paused when Goten sighed beside me.</p><p>"Is this how it's gonna be now?" he asked.</p><p>"Can you please just give us a minute?" I asked.</p><p>"Fine. I'd be annoyed, except I support this," Goten said. He left the roof too and I was standing there with Trunks.</p><p>"You wanna go out on a date? Like a real date?" I asked.</p><p>"Yeah. Of course," he said. "Don't you?"</p><p>My cheeks burned. "I mean, yeah. This just… makes it so, like, official," I said.</p><p>"That was part of my plan as it turns out, for it to be kind of official," he said. "If you're cool with it."</p><p>I sighed, reclining back against the fence. "I guess. But, can we at least go on a few dates before we confirm anything to our moms? Make sure it sticks?"</p><p>"You mean you think they'll be totally irritating the moment we tell them we're actually dating?" Trunks asked, feigning shock. "The same women who have been not-so-secretly planning our wedding since we were infants? I can't imagine why you'd be nervous about telling them." I rolled my eyes. "No, I get it. Our moms are kind of a lot."</p><p>"Yeah," I agreed. "Mostly mine."</p><p>"You're kind of a lot too, you know," he said.</p><p>"I'm not a lot. I'm just expressive with my thoughts," I said.</p><p>"And your fists," Trunks said.</p><p>"Well, people should just not be dumb when they talk to me," I said.</p><p>"Or mildly inconvenience you," Trunks said. "Or annoy you in the slightest."</p><p>"You're slightly annoying me right now," I said. "Do you think that's a trait I tolerate in someone I'm supposed to be dating?"</p><p>"Well, you're tolerating me now and you want to date me, so maybe?" he asked. Before I could confirm or deny this, he leaned down and kissed me.</p><p>I was kind of shocked when it was over because we were in full view of everyone. Trunks was probably the most popular kid around school whereas I was "unpredictable" and "mean" and "hung out with that Urameshi guy."</p><p>I was so worried about what my parents might say and do, but I hadn't considered how my classmates would react to this. I wasn't worried about Trunks's credibility decreasing, but what if mine increased? Would people see this as an opening to approach me? To try to be friendly? I was really happy with people leaving me alone. I had all the company I needed.</p><p>"I can't believe you did that," I said scanning the eyes on the roof. People had definitely seen. The rumor mill was already getting to work.</p><p>"Are you afraid people will think you're mildly approachable now?" Trunks asked.</p><p>"Yes. And if they assume that, incorrectly, I will have to punch them, and then my mother will nag me to death because she hates when I punch people," I said.</p><p>"No one will approach you. The last thing you need is to drag any more innocent humans into your weirdness," Trunks said.</p><p>"Thank you for understanding," I said. "I guess this is going to be okay."</p><p>"You guess?" he asked.</p><p>"I can't predict the future after all," I said with a wink.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>"I was in distress," I said to Mr. Takenaka. "Yusuke got hit by a car. He was dead."</p><p>"But he's in school now," Mr. Takenaka said.</p><p>"He got better," I said. "And now I'm back."</p><p>I was sitting at Mr. Takenaka's desk in the teacher's lounge talking about missing two weeks of class. He sighed in resignation.</p><p>"You know if you applied yourself-."</p><p>I groaned, dramatically throwing my head back. "Dude, you're killing me."</p><p>"You're short-changing yourself by not trying," he said. "We took a look at your last math exam. All of your work was correct, but your answers were wrong. I can't understand why you would want to appear as though you're not as intelligent as you actually are."</p><p>"It's a lot of work. Can I go now? Can't learn if I'm not in class," I said.</p><p>"Just wait," he said. "It's not just your math exams. It's most of your exams. Your truancy is a problem, but you still know the material. I can appreciate that you are friends with Yusuke Urameshi, but-."</p><p>"But what? I can do better?" I asked, rolling my eyes.</p><p>"No. I appreciate that you are friends with Yusuke, but friendship easily transcends what grades you get in school. And you could really do something if you tried. If Yusuke is your friend, he'd want that for you too," Takenaka said.</p><p>I groaned. Eventually, I knew it would all catch up with me. The act I was putting on. I wasn't good at all school stuff, mostly science, and I skated through math like it was nothing, but I could do well in everything.</p><p>The trouble was, I didn't want the attention of being a top student. I didn't want the pressure of being a top student. I just wanted to get through school and be left alone. I saw the way mother fawned over Gohan and his excellent grades and it was exhausting to watch. Especially when I got into middle school and was able to gauge how well I needed to do to not flunk out, I stuck to it, especially since that's when I became Spirit Detective. My life was fighting bad guys and saving the world. I didn't have time for school ceremonies or accolades for passing a math quiz.</p><p>"I know you're, like, the principal and you want me to do well, but I don't want the extra attention. My goal is to fly under the radar. Be ignored. Go to a mediocre high school and continue to be ignored. Not go to college and just be a street vendor or a farmer like my parents. I have no goals," I said.</p><p>Mr. Takenaka sighed. "Kairi, I think you should—"</p><p>And that's when I sensed it. Spirit Energy. Yusuke's Spirit Energy, just down the hall. I leapt to my feet ignoring whatever Mr. Takenaka was saying.</p><p>"Kairi, we're not finished," he said.</p><p>"Sorry, I gotta go," I said. I grabbed my bag and ran out of the office and passed by an irritated Mr. Iwamoto as I did. Yusuke was around the corner with Koenma. "Dude, what's going on? What's with the Spirit Energy?"</p><p>"I gave Mr. Iwamoto a piece of mind is what happened," he said.</p><p>"You used your Spirit Energy on a teacher?" I asked. I looked over to Koenma. "And you're always yelling at me to be discrete."</p><p>"You two need to get a move on. This is urgent!" Koenma said. And so he recounted to us that three demons had broken into his father's vault and stole the Artifacts of Darkness: the Orb of Baast which could steal souls, especially those of children; the Forlorn Hope, a mirror which, when reflected in the light of the full moon would grant the user one wish in exchange for something; and the Shadow Sword whose cut turns anything into a demon.</p><p>King Yemma, Koenma's father was currently away, and if he came back and found the artifacts were gone there would be hell to pay.</p><p>The items had been taken by three demons: Hiei, Kurama, and-.</p><p>"Gouki, that fucker," I said. "I know I have trouble with the little fish in the big pond, but that fucker has been a pain in my ass since I took this job."</p><p>"What's so bad about him?" Yusuke asked.</p><p>"He's killed a few of the other people Spirit World sent after him," I said.</p><p>"Ten is not a few," Koenma said.</p><p>"Still. He's a Kyuukonki. He's not as thin-skinned as the demons I'm used to dealing with. I've managed to nearly kill him one time when I was 12 but he was faster than me so he got away. Every time Koenma brings him up I kick myself," I said.</p><p>"What about the other two guys?" Yusuke asked.</p><p>"We don't have much information on them," Koenma said. "We know that they're somewhere in Uptown, so let's get a move on."<br/><br/></p><hr/><p><br/>"I hate being here with all these rich kids," Yusuke said as we walked around. "Doesn't your boyfriend live around here?"</p><p>I rolled my eyes. "You know you're obnoxious right?"</p><p>"So is your rich boyfriend," Yusuke said. "What do you see in that dude?"</p><p>"He only doesn't like you because he thinks you're a bad influence," I said.</p><p>"Yeah, I'm the bad influence, but you've got me walking around town looking for a throuple of demons," Yusuke said.</p><p>"A throuple?" I asked.</p><p>"Like a couple, but three," he said.</p><p>"You mean a trio?" I asked.</p><p>"Oh, yeah, I guess that works," Yusuke said. "Throuple sounds better though."</p><p>"Hard disagree," I said.</p><p>"And you still didn't tell me what you see in him," Yusuke said.</p><p>"Why do you wanna know? Are you jealous?" I asked.</p><p>Yusuke scoffed. "Please; you're no Keiko." I laughed. "I just think he's kind of a douche."</p><p>"He just wants what's best for me like everyone else," I said. "And I like him because I don't know. I like him the same way I like you but-."</p><p>"You wanna kiss him?" Yusuke teased.</p><p>I rolled my eyes. "If you want to put it that way, then yes."</p><p>"<em>Have </em>you kissed him?" Yusuke asked, poking me in the ribs.</p><p>"What does it matter?" I asked swatting him away, my cheeks reddening.</p><p>"That means yes. So what, you brought me back to life and decided to get your official first kiss out of the way?" he asked before making kissing noises in my ear.</p><p>I punched him in the arm. "Instead of beating your ass, I'm going to show you something." I pointed. There was an alley. It led behind the shops, towards the woods. "You see that?"</p><p>Yusuke looked where I was pointing. A small wisp of a soul was floating along.</p><p>"Is that a soul?" Yusuke asked.</p><p>"Ready to finally do this job?" I asked.</p><p>Yusuke nodded. "Let's go."</p><p>We followed the soul through the alleyway and into the woods. It started to rain as we followed the soul, but there was one spot in the forest that was untouched by the rain.</p><p>"As Botan would say, bingo," Yusuke said.</p><p>He was right, but something felt wrong. There was something familiar about this. Did I know the soul of the person who'd been taken by the Orb of Baast just now?</p><p>Yusuke and I crept through the forest towards the clearing. I could hear them talking. I could sense the low-level demons created from the trees as they flew overhead. And then, I felt it. Spirit Energy so undeniably familiar that I knew I couldn't be mistaken.</p><p>I sprinted ahead of Yusuke and pushed into the clearing.</p><p>There was Gouki, tall, and broad-shouldered wearing a green t-shirt too tight for his body. There was another demon, shorter than even me, with tall spiked black hair, save for a tuft of white in the front. He was clad in all black.</p><p>But the third person there. I knew him. Not the same way I knew Gouki. He looked at me with his green eyes and long red hair. My cousin. Shuichi. And there was that feeling again, that he was lying to me. That Shuichi was a lie.</p><p>"And who's this?" the shorter demon asked.</p><p>"It's the Spirit Detective," Gouki said. "Long time no see. I figured they'd be sending you."</p><p>"How about you both shut up," I said as Yusuke joined me. I pointed at Shuichi. "What the fuck is going on?"</p><p>"Hey, I know you don't I?" Yusuke asked pointing at Shuichi. Of course, he knew Shuichi. They'd both been to countless birthday dinners and family gatherings at the same time together. They'd met a handful of times.</p><p>"Oh, they sent you with back up," Gouki said.</p><p>"Gouki, if you speak again, I'm going to rip your fucking dick off and shove up your ass," I said.</p><p>"You didn't say that your cousin had a mouth on her," the short demon said again.</p><p>I looked to Shuichi. "Start talking now."</p><p>Shuichi sighed. "Sorry. I don't have time to be arrested." And then he walked away into the woods.</p><p>"Kurama!" the third demon shouted, who by process of elimination had to be Hiei, leapt up and was gone before I could blink. That left Gouki.</p><p>"Go get him," Yusuke said.</p><p>"What?" I asked.</p><p>"Your cousin is a demon. Go handle that shit. I've got big and stupid," Yusuke said.</p><p>I looked over at Gouki. "Uh, I'm not comfortable with that."</p><p>"You think I can't handle myself?" Yusuke asked.</p><p>"In this instance, yes," I said. "I can't leave you alone with a Kyuukonki! Botan will murder me."</p><p>"Dude, I died and came back. I'm tougher than I look," he said. "If your family is in on this, go follow that lead."</p><p>I sighed. He had a point, but also big and stupid had the ability to make himself a lot tougher. I groaned.</p><p>"Make sure you kill him," I said. "Don't let him walk away. Do it before he transforms."</p><p>"Transforms?" Yusuke asked.</p><p>"Thick skin! Take him down!" I said. I ran off. I knew I wouldn't catch up with Shuichi. He was clearly much faster than he'd ever let on, but I knew where I would find him.<br/><br/></p><hr/><p><br/>I knocked on the door to the hospital room. Shiori was inside with Shuichi looking after her as always.</p><p>"Kairi, I wasn't expecting you today," Shiori said. "They're almost done with visitors."</p><p>"I know. Shuichi was going to help me with some homework and said to meet him here," I said. "He thought it'd be nice to surprise you. He's full of surprises this guy."</p><p>Shuichi smiled at me.</p><p>"Good of you to be helping your cousin, Shuichi," Shiori said. "Chichi worries so much about her. She needs looking after."</p><p>"Sometimes he needs looking after too," I said.</p><p>"I'm glad he has you then," Shiori said. I walked over to hug her and kissed her cheek.</p><p>"Take care of yourself. I'll be back tomorrow after school," he said.</p><p>"Goodnight," I said.</p><p>Shiori waved goodbye and Shuichi walked out of the room with me. We didn't speak until we were out of the hospital.</p><p>"I'm sure you have questions," he said once we were on the street.</p><p>"I think you need to explain yourself right now or I'm gonna kick your ass," I said.</p><p>"I am your cousin. I'm still Shuichi," he said.</p><p>"Why are you running around with demons?" I asked.</p><p>"Because… I'm also a demon," he said.</p><p>"The hell you are," I said. "Our moms aren't demons and I know your father wasn't either."</p><p>"I was quite well known in my day. Yoko Kurama they called me," Shuichi said. "I was a thief. I</p><p>got a bit ahead of myself once and Spirit World managed to track me down. I was gravely injured in the process of escaping, so I attached myself to my mother, your aunt, then… I was born again, as a human. Merely biding my time until I regained my strength, but then…"</p><p>Shuichi looked back over at the hospital.</p><p>"But then Aunt Shiori got sick," I said. He nodded.</p><p>"I couldn't leave her. Or you or your brothers and mother," he said. "I realized I cared for her. For all of you."</p><p>"And you knew I was Spirit Detective?" I asked.</p><p>"I must confess, I've kept a close eye on you since your run-in with that water demon," he said. "I wasn't surprised they recruited you. I'm surprised you didn't find me out earlier."</p><p>"And why Gouki and Hiei?" I asked. "Why steal from Spirit World? The Orb of Baast steals souls so I know why Gouki wanted it."</p><p>"And Hiei seems to think he can overthrow humanity with the Shadow Sword," Shuichi said. "But the Forlorn Hope."</p><p>"You can wish for anything," I said.</p><p>He nodded and pointed back to the hospital. My aunt. He wanted to save her. I groaned.</p><p>"I just need until the full moon. I'll save my mother and then you can have it back," he said. "Do whatever you want with me. But let me help her."</p><p>"Why do this? Why not turn to the Dragon Balls or-."</p><p>"My mother didn't want that. Besides every time the Dragon Balls pop up trouble soon follows, or so I'm told," he said. "This way she would never know."</p><p>I sighed. "This is a lot, Shuichi."</p><p>"Kurama. And I know you have no reason to trust me right now," he said.</p><p>"No shit," I said.</p><p>"But this will save my mother, and you know it will," he said. I groaned. "Your job is to protect people, isn't it? This is for your family."</p><p>"Family or not you're still taking advantage of the fact that we're related," I said.</p><p>"I am," he said. "But you're still going to help me aren't you?" I frowned. "That's what I suspected."</p><p>"Maybe you've got good intentions, but your cohorts do not," I said. "The Shadow Sword can create an army of demons out of humans which will be a pain the ass, and I know Gouki is only in it for the souls he can eat."</p><p>Speaking of the latter I really need to check in on Yusuke.</p><p>"Gouki is an idiot," Kurama said. "He wasn't meant to be a part of our plan initially, but our previous companion was… Problematic."</p><p>"More problematic than eating children's souls?" I asked.</p><p>"That's a fair assumption to make," he said. "But Gouki can easily be dealt with. As for Hiei, he may be an issue. He's much smarter than her lets on. And he's incredibly fast."</p><p>Everyone was faster than me. Everyone. If Shuichi was commenting on his speed, Hiei was definitely going to be faster than I could deal with. And definitely faster than Yusuke could deal with.</p><p>My phone rang in my pocket. I pulled it out and answered it.</p><p>"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU LEFT YUSUKE ALONE WITH THAT KYUUKONKI! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!"</p><p>"Hi, Botan," I said.</p><p>"Get to his apartment right now!" Botan said. "I can't believe you'd do this!"</p><p>"He said it was fine," I said.</p><p>"And you listened to him?" she shouted.</p><p>"Okay, but did he die?" I asked.</p><p>"That's no excuse!" she said.</p><p>"I'll be right there," I said. "And can you get a line on Koenma?"</p><p>"Yes, but what for?" she asked.</p><p>"About this Kurama guy," I said. "There's been a snag." I hung up the phone.</p><p>Kurama stared at me with those green eyes that had been staring down at me and watching me my whole life.</p><p>"If this is a game to you, I'll never forgive you. I'll hunt you to the ends of the Earth if anything you've told me is a lie, Shuichi—Kurama," I said.</p><p>"Nothing I've told you is a lie," he said. "When this is all over, Chichi will have a healthy sister again, you a healthy aunt, and I'll face whatever punishment I must suffer because of it."</p><p>It all made sense, what I'd felt when I'd walk into that clearing earlier, the vision I'd seen at Genkai's house. Shuichi was a lie because it wasn't his true name. Kurama. That was the truth. And as I spoke to him now, however much my heart wanted to tell me that this might be deceit, my mind, the part of me that could read him, could tell he was telling the truth. I felt no deception in his words.</p><p>He said he knew I was Spirit Detective but did he know I was psychic? At the very least, it wasn't until I was with Genkai that I could sense feelings and truth and deception.</p><p>I was wary, but I was sure, Kurama could be trusted.<br/><br/></p><hr/><p><br/>"I can't believe you knew about Shuichi this entire time," I said.</p><p>Koenma sighed on my phone screen. "For the most part, it seemed as though he wanted to fly under the radar and live his life as a human. Kurama was a well-known demon here and in Demon World during his time. Mostly we were pleased to have him no longer parading around like a criminal. And then this happened."</p><p>"Well, Kurama is my cousin now. And it makes sense that he would keep it a secret from me, I'm the Spirit Detective after all. But you should have told me," I said.</p><p>"Yes, you're right," Koenma said. "But there's nothing to be done about it now. And you still need to get those items back from him and his companions," Koenma said.</p><p>"Don't worry. I've got this," I said. I ended the call and tossed my phone into my bookbag. Yusuke was still unconscious on his bed. I looked over at Botan who was frowning.</p><p>"I'm so sorry, Kairi. I had no idea," Botan said. "Do you think you can talk him into giving your Forlorn Hope?"</p><p>I nodded. "He said he will, but he wants to use it first."</p><p>"But Kairi-."</p><p>"My aunt, his mom… She's sick. She's been sick since I was like nine or something. She's been in and out of the hospital for ages, but she's been there months now and she's not getting better. She's dying," I said. "Is it so bad if he uses that mirror to wish for her to get better?"</p><p>She sighed. "No, it's not so bad. But what if he's not telling the truth."</p><p>"He wasn't lying," I said. "I could feel it. He's holding a lot back, but he wasn't lying to me about why he wants to use the mirror or that he'd give it back once she was better." She opened her mouth to say something, but I stopped her. "You know I've got good instincts if nothing else."</p><p>She wrapped me in a hug. "Okay, if you think he's trustworthy, so do I." She let me go and then whacked me atop the head. "But if you abandon Yusuke like that again we're going to have some trouble."</p><p>"Gotcha," I said. "But, again, did he die?"</p><p>Botan pouted at me but then gave me a weak smile. Barring my chat with Yusuke when I was with Genkai, this was the first time I'd seen Botan since my assignment at the bathhouse. She wasn't even able to look at me that day. And now she was smiling at me if I was just being the same old reckless Kairi. It made me feel better. Like I wasn't a monster.</p><p>"I missed you, Botan," I said.</p><p>She smiled at me, a little wider this time. "Yes, I missed you too. I'm glad you're doing better."</p><p>I nodded. "Got a little dodgy there for a minute, I'll admit. Nothing a healthy dose of repression can't fix."</p><p>Botan frowned. "I'm certain that's not healthy."</p><p>I shrugged. "Who am I going to tell about it? Who wants to hear that story?" Botan sighed. "I'll be fine. I always am."</p><p>She pouted and wrapped me in another hug. "I'll never blame you for what happened that day. I just want you to know. That was a lot for anyone to handle and you-."</p><p>"Thank you," I said squeezing her tightly, tears stinging my eyes. "I wouldn't be able to come back to this job if I didn't have you."</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Divide and Conquer</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"He eats kids' souls!" Yusuke shouted.</p><p>"I am aware. I told you, I've dealt with him before. He's tough," I said. "But I'm stronger now. If you faced him and lived, I should be able to handle him no sweat."</p><p>Yusuke scoffed as I pushed him back onto his pillow. He'd woken up from his beating determined to get right back to it. That was classic Yusuke Urameshi. He didn't know the meaning of stopping.</p><p>"I'm also not comfortable with you facing Gouki alone, Kairi," Botan said.</p><p>"You think the cripple is going to be of any help to me right now? He can barely sit up," I said.</p><p>"Yusuke should be good as new in the morning. Can you at least wait until then?" she asked.</p><p>I sighed. "I suppose."</p><p>"What about the other two?" Yusuke asked. "Was that guy really your cousin."</p><p>I nodded. "Yep. Best believe Koenma got an earful for that one."</p><p>"Were you able to talk him into giving back his mirror thing?" Yusuke asked.</p><p>"No, Shuichi or Kurama is his 'true name' apparently, wants to use the mirror, but he has a really good reason," I said.</p><p>"A good reason? Did you see the crowd he's running with? And he lied to you this whole time about being a demon," Yusuke said.</p><p>"I know. And he knew I was Spirit Detective too. We had a whole conversation," I said. "Yusuke, his mom is my aunt Shiori."</p><p>Yusuke paused, putting the pieces together immediately. "He wants to use the mirror for her?"</p><p>I nodded. "What am I gonna do? Tell him no and just let her die? He said once he's used the mirror he'll give it right to us and that'll be that, whatever consequences he needs to face, he'll face them. But he wants to save his mom."</p><p>Yusuke sighed. "Can't really argue with the sick mom card. You believe him?"</p><p>I nodded. "He's not lying about the mirror. And he said Gouki is an idiot. Wasn't even the first guy they had on their team originally. They had to get rid of their other partner because they were 'problematic' or something."</p><p>"More problematic than eating children's souls? What the fuck was wrong with the other guy?" Yusuke asked.</p><p>"That's what I said, but he didn't elaborate," I said. "Gouki is a brute, but a dumb brute. Hiei though, he's gonna give us some trouble. Apparently, he's smarter than he's letting on. And fast. Fast is an issue. I am strong, but not fast."</p><p>"But you're so tiny," Yusuke said.</p><p>"A fact that has been pointed out to me several times," I said. "My brothers have always had such a gap on me when it comes to physical strength that I kind of had a complex about it. I hit hard, but not fast."</p><p>"So what are we going to do about Hiei?" Botan asked.</p><p>I looked over to Yusuke. "He's got potential. It might not be a shit show if he can get in one good hit on that guy, depending on how strong he is."</p><p>Yusuke groaned. "Yeah, one good hit. You know, Koenma told me after I hit Mr. Iwamoto that I could only use that Spirit Gun once a day? Freaking screwed me with Gouki."</p><p>"Oh, only once a day?" I asked.</p><p>"You can do it more than that?" Yusuke asked.</p><p>I nodded. "At most five, but I'm not great with Spirit Energy. My ki though. It gets ridiculous."</p><p>Yusuke scoffed. "Five and you act like it's no big deal."</p><p>"You're just new, Yusuke. You gotta work on it," I said. "You'll get there eventually."</p><hr/><p>The next morning, Yusuke and I cut school to head out to look for Gouki. We hung out around uptown again, hoping to spot him, but we'd had no luck so far. Additionally, Yusuke was starting to rethink our plan.</p><p>"Shouldn't we be worried about this Hiei guy, too?" he asked. "He's probably not just hanging out waiting for us to show up and kick his ass. He's probably, like, amassing his army or something."</p><p>I nodded. "I've considered this time, but we have a short period of time before he fully digests those kids' souls, so we've gotta take him out."</p><p>"<em>Or</em>, we can divide and conquer," Yusuke said.</p><p>I shook my head. "You almost got killed yesterday and Botan almost killed me by extension."</p><p>"Yeah, but now that I know what I'm doing and that I've got my daily Spirit Gun back, I can handle him," Yusuke said. "You, being the more experienced of the pair of us should track down and take out the little guy."</p><p>"And where would you like me to start? We might have a vague idea of how Gouki hunts, but this Hiei guy is a wild card," I said. "I don't know how strong he is or what he's capable of. Just his motives and that he's going to be fast. Oh, and I guess he's got that stupid eye."</p><p>"Eye?" Yusuke asked.</p><p>"Kurama said he has a third eye, a Jagan eye. It's an eye that gives him like super psychic abilities like reading minds or remote viewing," I said. "A big pain in the ass basically."</p><p>Especially since having that Jagan eye meant that I wasn't going to be able to use my own psychic abilities to find him. His mental defenses might be better than my own.</p><p>"And you want to let that guy just roam around, huh?" he asked. I frowned.</p><p>"If you die-."</p><p>"I won't die. I did it once. That's enough," Yusuke said. "You trust me, right? Would I really go back and get my ass kicked a second time if I didn't believe I could beat him?"</p><p>"Believing you can beat him doesn't mean that you <em>can</em>," I said.</p><p>"Well, prepare for me to prove you wrong," he said. And then we saw it, a little slow, heading out towards the woods just like before. "Got find the other guy. I've got this."</p><p>I suddenly wished that Genkai and I had worked harder on me predicting the future, so I'd know if I was making the right decision, but I nodded and let Yusuke run off to fight Gouki, alone. Botan could yell at me later.</p><p>Now I had to find Hiei.</p><p>But first, my phone rang. Trunks. Of course.</p><p>I answered. "If being your girlfriend means you're going to check up on me every time I bail on school, I might have to rethink this."</p><p>"I only called because you left school early yesterday and never came back, and Goten said you didn't come home last night," he said.</p><p>"I was with Yusuke. He got into it with a demon and I spent the night making sure he didn't die. He just ran off for round two and I am actually trying to find a different demon altogether because Yusuke wanted to divide and conquer," I said.</p><p>Trunks sighed. "Is this how it's going to be now?"</p><p>"What do you mean?" I asked.</p><p>"Yusuke knowing more about what's going on with you than I do?" he asked.</p><p>I liked Trunks, but I did not like this. He never liked Yusuke, which I tolerated because Yusuke also did not like him. But I was going to run around with Yusuke, platonically kicking demons asses, Trunks couldn't get bent out of shape about it.</p><p>I took a deep breath. "I get that you're frustrated, but Yusuke has always been my best friend. And now he is privy to all the things I couldn't tell him before because he's my partner. He's also a frail, human boy who I have to teach not to die. And I'm sorry you don't approve of my friendship with Yusuke or with me being Spirit Detective, but that doesn't all evaporate suddenly just because we're almost dating. So you have to get over it."</p><p>Trunks was silent on the other end of the phone.</p><p>"In the meantime, I have to go find this guy before he creates an army of demons out of a bunch of humans, and when I'm done with all that, I will debrief you as I always do, but for now I gotta go," I said. I hung up the phone without waiting for a response. I didn't know if I was doing a good job or a terrible job at being someone's girlfriend or not, but at least I was being honest about everything.</p><hr/><p>I left mid-town. It was too crowded, too lively, too full of people who were going to be missed. Every child that Gouki had gone after was on the news every night. But, if this Hiei person was smarter and more dangerous than Gouki, then it stood to reason that he'd work smarter too. He'd have to start by gathering up humans no one would look for. He'd want to fly under the radar to make sure no cops or family members came looking for him and accidentally stumbled upon him. Sure, he could handle all of them, but it'd be a pain the ass, and getting rid of all of them would definitely draw attention.</p><p>So I went to where all the ne'er-do-wells and have-nots of society liked to lurk. I'd spent a good amount of time running around here with Yusuke, so I knew that part of the city well. If you wanted people who no one would miss, who would have the added bonus of being hardened by the streets, and therefore sturdier a zombie slave, this is where I would go.</p><p>I thought about how I would find him. I was hopeful that my mere presence would draw him out, but that didn't seem to work. I had to use my head for this one.</p><p>And then I thought of Genkai and her training.</p><p>It was possible he was looking for me too or watching me now that I was here. But I had my walls up. Nothing in, nothing out. If I wanted to find him, all I had to do was open a door.</p><p>So I did. At first, I wandered the streets in silence, but then I heard him.</p><p><em>"They didn't say the new Spirit Detective was a telepath,"</em> Hiei said, in my head. <em>"No wonder you're so difficult to get a read on."</em></p><p><em>"I thrive on keeping people guessing,"</em> I replied. <em>"How about you come out, give me the Shadow Sword, and we can have a chat about it?"</em></p><p><em>"Tch. Was that your plan? To ask nicely?"</em> Hiei replied.</p><p><em>"Hey, my dad raised me to be a lady. I always try the nice way before I resort to punching. It's polite,"</em> I said. Which was true. My dad did always want me to try to end things peacefully before resorting to violence. It never worked, but I always asked, because one day it might.</p><p>I scanned the rooftops and stepped down an empty alleyway, looking out for him. He was silent now. I closed the door and I waited for him to strike.</p><p>He was fast, too fast, and I barely moved in time to avoid a blow from his sword.</p><p>Hiei was still clad in all black like before, but this time I noticed the white bandana tied around his forehead that concealed his Jagan eye.</p><p>"You are fast," I said. "I'm a little impressed." I was going to be just fast enough to dodge his attacks, but one miscalculation and I was a goner. And since he was faster than me, he was going to be able to dodge me easily. I had on a brave face but this was not going to be an easy fight.</p><p>"Gouki made you out to be much slower," Hiei said.</p><p>"Yeah, I'd definitely trust his instincts. Did he also tell you that he ran away from me when I broke his arm after he transformed? He didn't seem to like his odds then," I said.</p><p>Hiei frowned as if he were calculating his own odds now. How strong would I have to be to break Gouki's arm after he transformed into a Kyuukonki?</p><p>I watched Hiei, his sword held aloft, and he watched me. What was he thinking? What was his next move?</p><p>He smirked. "You're no amateur. I see it in your eyes. Your partner is an idiot. But you've seen things."</p><p>"More than I care to think about," I said.</p><p>"You might actually be a decent opponent," Hiei said. "It's a shame, actually, that you're wasting your potential being Spirit World's flunky."</p><p>I scoffed. "I am not a flunky."</p><p>"Then what is it you do? Run around doing all of Spirit World's dirty work for them?" Hiei asked.</p><p>"I am an equal opportunity protector of the people," I said. "Even demons and even if they don't want my help. And I'll have you know in this line of work I've taken out much bigger, much stronger demons than you."</p><p>He rolled his eyes. "I hate people like you."</p><p>"That's what they all say," I said.</p><p>Hiei came at me again. Once more, I barely dodged his attack.</p><p>He scoffed at me now. "You talk an awful lot for someone who hasn't even made a move to strike me yet. Are you afraid you'll be too slow and that I'll find an opening to take you down?"</p><p>Yes, that was absolutely why I was not attacking him, but he didn't need to know that. I'd had to do this song and dance before. I was a professional bullshitter.</p><p>"I just thought we were having such a fun conversation; why end it so soon? I'm getting vibes that you weren't hugged as a child; do you want to explore how that may've fueled your desire to destroy humanity?" I replied.</p><p>Hiei came at me again, and this time he didn't stop coming. I was only going to get so far playing defense, but if I got hit by that sword I was not going to be in good shape. The last thing this guy needed was a Saiyan zombie slave. I'd seen that kind of handiwork before and I was not a fan. I had to find an opening, even a small one and I had to take it. No risk no reward.</p><p>I saw the faintest hint of an opening on his left side. Now was the time to strike. Instead of running, I stood my ground and kicked him in the ribs as hard as I could muster from the very terrible angle I was at. But that was enough, he flew into the side of the building, leaving a small crater.</p><p>I threw my hands up. "And the kick is good!" Hiei fell to the ground on his hands and knees. Annoyingly, he still held onto the Shadow Sword. "So I got the first hit in; does that mean I win?" He glared at me. "I mean, I could always kick you while you're down. I like to toe the line when it comes to being honorable in a fight. I mean, I kick you once, you expect to get kicked again."</p><p>Hiei rose to his feet, but it was clear my hit had rattled him.</p><p>"Your Spirit Energy is abysmal," Hiei said. Why did people keep using that word to describe my Spirit Energy? I was adequate. "How are you as strong as you are?"</p><p>"Genetics," I said. "I come from a long line of super-powerful aliens who were born and bred to be fighting machines."</p><p>Hiei scoffed. "You're an idiot."</p><p>I shrugged. "No one ever believes me when I tell them."</p><p>Now that I had him injured it was time to go in for the proverbial kill. I went to hit him head-on, but he was gone.</p><p>"Sorry, Detective." I turned and he was standing atop the building behind me. "I've got plans and being captured by you would hinder them."</p><p>"You little shit, you can't run away in the middle of a fight!" I shouted.</p><p>"What was it you said? I like to toe the line when it comes to being honorable in a fight," he said.</p><p>"You son of a bitch. Don't use throw my words back at me!" I shouted again.</p><p>But then he was gone. No way he was going to show up again now. He definitely had some broken ribs he'd need to take care of. And once he was back at 100 percent, he wasn't going to let me get another hit off on him. Not up close anyway.</p><p>My phone buzzed in my pocket and I fished it out. It was a picture of Yusuke, lying on the ground, holding up the peace sign. He looked about as awful as he had yesterday. A text message followed.</p><p>
  <strong>Yusuke<br/></strong>
  <em>I lived, Bitch!</em>
</p><p>I shook my head and shoved my phone back into my pocket. Botan was definitely going to yell at me again.</p><hr/><p>Hiei didn't reappear the next day, but I had no doubt that he would pop up soon. In the meantime, I still had Kurama to deal with. He agreed to meet up with me after school at the hospital and there we would wait until the Full Moon.</p><p>Incidentally, my mother was also in town to visit her sister today. In order to avoid incurring her wrath, I made sure to actually go to school during the day. Yusuke was, once again, laid up recovering from Gouki, and with Hiei nowhere to be found, there was nothing else left to do with my day.</p><p>"There you are. I was afraid you'd fallen off the face of the planet," Goten said when he found me at my locker the next morning. "Things going well with Urameshi?"</p><p>I groaned, closing the locker. "Yusuke is the least of my worries right now. This assignment is a shitshow."</p><p>"You always say that," Goten said waving a dismissive hand at me.</p><p>Yes, I had a tendency to be overdramatic, but finding out our cousin was actually some demon named Kurama who broke into King Yemma's vault to steal the Artifacts of Darkness so he could save our aunt from dying, never mind what his two accomplices wanted to do, qualified this as actually being a shitshow.</p><p>"Find me at lunch; it's a whole thing," I said.</p><p>Goten nodded and then indicated behind me. That could only mean Trunks was coming.</p><p>"See you at lunch," he said, before walking off.</p><p>I turned around, and there was Trunks. I reclined back against my locker.</p><p>"Good morning," I said coolly.</p><p>"Are you still mad at me?" he asked.</p><p>I scoffed. "I wasn't mad."</p><p>"You sounded like it," Trunks said.</p><p>"I may not have any dating experience outside of this past week, but I'm pretty sure I find jealousy annoying," I said. "I was annoyed."</p><p>"And I just find it annoying that I never know what's happening with you," Trunks said. "You always get so swept up in your shit and I don't know what you're doing or where you are until it's over. You can't even stop to shoot me or Goten or your mom a text?"</p><p>"No. Because I get swept up in my shit and I'm figuring out how to get it over with as quickly as possible," I said. "Is there an issue with me debriefing you?"</p><p>Just as I said "debriefing" a girl stopped, as if startled by my words. She made eye contact with me and then looked me up and down.</p><p>"Are you gonna keep walking or do you wanna get punched in the face?" I asked, holding up my clenched fist prepared to make good on the threat. She scurried away and Trunks pushed my hand down.</p><p>"I wish you wouldn't do that," Trunks said.</p><p>"People shouldn't eavesdrop. It's rude," I said.</p><p>Trunks rolled his eyes and placed a hand on my shoulder, guiding me away from the lockers.</p><p>"Look, Trunks, we've been having this argument for months now. My own mother is less frustrated by this than you," I said. "I need you to trust me. I need you to chill. And let me repeat, I need you to trust me."</p><p>He sighed. "You're right. It's annoying, but you're right."</p><p>"I have to info dump on you and Goten at lunch, okay? This assignment is bananas," I said. "You cool with that?"</p><p>"Very cool," he said.</p>
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